Asam Prawn (Tamarind Fried Prawn) & Nyonya vegetable stew (Nyonya chap chye) recipes

Tamarind Fried Prawn (Asam Prawn/Asam Heh) Recipe

 Ingredients:

8 oz shell-on prawns
1 1/2 tablespoons tamarind pulp
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cooking oil

Method:

1. Mix the tamarind pulp with 4 tablespoons water. Extract the juice from the tamarind by pressing the pulp.
2. Remove the heads of the prawn. Devein the prawn by slitting the back. Rinse prawn with water and pat dry with paper towers.
3. Add the tamarind juice and pulp, salt, and sugar into the prawn and mix well with your hand. Marinate for 15 minutes. Remove the tamarind pulp before cooking.
4. Heat up a wok and add cooking oil. As soon as it’s heated, drop the prawnsinto the wok and pan fry until cooked and slightly burnt. Dish out and serve immediately.

Cook’s Note:

Some recipes call for dark soy sauce but I always do without the dark soy sauce as it will make the prawns too dark in color, and hence less appealing in presentation. You can also leave the heads on, for photography purposes, I had them heads off. You can also pan-fried the prawns with the tamarind pulp if you wish.

Nyonya vegetable stew (Nyonya chap chye)

Ingredients

For the paste:

• 20g candlenuts or cashews
• 70g shallots, peeled
• 20g garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsps fermented soy beans
• 150ml water

• For the stew:

• 20g lily flower, rinsed, knotted
• 1 1/2 tbsps sugar, or to taste
• 3 tbsps light soy sauce
• 6 tbsps oil
• 300g prawns, peeled
• 750ml light chicken or prawn stock
• 15g glass noodles, soaked in cold water for 20 seconds
• 25 dried beancurd skin, soaked, cut into pieces
• 250g cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 40g sweet beancurd skin or 'tim chok', cut into pieces
• 30g dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked, halved
• 15g black fungus, soaked, cut into pieces

• Method

  How to make Nyonya vegetable stew (Nyonya chap chye)

  Find out more about Makansutra's Nyonya Vegetable Stew.
  1) Combine all of the ingredients for the paste in a food processor and blend. Set aside.
  2) In a braising pot, heat oil and fry paste for about 3-4 minutes or until fragrant. Add the prawns and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
  3) Deep fry the tim chok and dried bean curd skin over low-medium fire till lightly crispy. Set aside.
  4) Add the lily flower, black fungus, dried mushrooms, sweet beancurd and cabbage to the paste, fry for another 2-3 minutes.
  5) Add stock and bring mixture to boil. Lower heat, cover and let chap chye simmer for 8 minutes.
  6) Add fried tim chok, dried beancurd skin and glass noodles and let it simmer for another 2 minutes.
  Serve with steamed rice.
• Please visit here for more Traditional Peranakan Food Recipes.