If you think fast and easy can’t possibly be delicious, then you’ve got to try our prawns with steamed egg whites recipe. Plus, it comes with a generous dollop of buttery goodness for that extra richness and Butterkicap twist.
Fuss-free and incredibly simple to prepare, the most difficult thing you’ll need to do when making this dish is trim the prawns. And use the mandolin, especially if you’re a little on the clumsy side. Plus, it takes only about 10 minutes to cook, and that in itself has got to be one of the best reasons to try making this dish, besides its incredible flavour. The completed dish also looks great on a plate – making this the perfect dish to impress a date if you’re cooking for them for the first time.
You’re going to want to dig in straightaway with your hands though… Enjoy!
Ingredients
For the steamed egg whites with prawns:
- 370g fresh tiger prawns, about 10 large prawns
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp coarsely ground pepper
- ½ tsp sugar
For the dressing:
- 10g garlic, about 2 large cloves
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- ½ lime, juice only
For garnishing:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3g Chinese parsley, leaves only, chopped fine
- 3g spring onions, chopped fine
Serves: 4
Method
- Clean prawns and trim legs and sharp parts. Don’t remove shells. Drain and transfer to a bowl.
- Fill your steamer with water ¾ full. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Do this step early before preparing the rest of the ingredients as we want the steam to be really hot when the prawns and egg whites go in.
- Separate egg whites into a bowl.
- Whisk with ¼ tsp salt until a layer of foam forms.
- Add soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, pepper and sugar to prawns and mix thoroughly to season. Immediately arrange prawns onto a deep plate.
- If your steamer is ready, transfer your plate of prawns into the steamer. With the temperature still on high heat, keep your steamer closed and steam for four minutes or until prawns have turned pink. The time may vary if you use smaller prawns, so don’t forget to check every once in awhile.
- Once the 4 minutes are up, remove cover, pour in whisked egg whites including the foam, and cover again to steam for an additional 6 minutes. Once the six minutes are up, remove the plate of prawns and set aside.
While the prawns cook, prepare dressing
- Slice garlic finely using a mandolin. Be careful with your fingers!
- In a small pan, add sesame oil and garlic. Try spreading the garlic out in a single layer so it cooks more evenly. Fry over high heat until the edges have browned slightly, like a chewy caramelized texture. You don’t need to stir the garlic as it cooks.
- Once garlic is cooked, transfer garlic to a bowl plus half teaspoon of the garlic sesame oil. Add light soy sauce, sugar, pepper and lime juice. Stir to combine.
- To complete the dish, place a knob of butter in the middle of the cooked prawns (after it has been removed from the steamer). Spoon out the garlic then drizzle dressing all over the prawns. Sprinkle Chinese parsley leaves and spring onions.
- Serve with hot white rice or dig in straight away as is!
Extra tips
- Not sure what to do with your leftover yolk? If you’re making another batch of prawns, replace egg whites with whisked egg yolks for a different but equally delicious dish!
- Don’t forget to make sure your plate fits inside the steamer beforehand.
- Instead of regular soy sauce, try using soy sauce for seafood instead. The flavour is not as strong as regular soy sauce, so add an extra ½ tbsp when making your dressing.
- This dish is best served hot, so cook it just before you’re ready to eat.
- If you’re feeling a little lazy, you can use whole Chinese parsley leaves instead.
- We’ve estimated 2 large prawns per person for this dish if you’re eating it with rice and other dishes. But if you plan to eat this and only this, you could probably feed one singular person with all 10 prawns. But if you know you can eat more… go for it!
Have a piece of garlic white every single bite of prawn and don’t forget to dip the whole thing into the sauce for a delicious balance of flavours. The prawns are so tasty, you’re going to want to suck on the shells and prawn heads too! Quick and easy, you’ve got to give this recipe a try. And don’t forget to hashtag us with #butterkicap when you do!
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