Home
Recipes
Salt and pepper prawns

Salt and pepper prawns with chilli garlic dip on some newspapers

Salt and pepper prawns

Name: Salt and pepper prawns
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 6-8 as part of a buffet
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 tbsp cornflour; vegetable oil for deep frying; 24 large king prawns peeled and deveined, with tails; pea shoots or baby salad leaves, to serve (optional); 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns; 4 black peppercorns; 2 tbsp sea salt flakes; large pinch of chilli flakes; 1 garlic clove crushed; 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves; 1 small red chilli finely chopped; 2 tbsp caster sugar; juice 3 limes; 1 tbsp fish sauce

Jennifer Joyce

Save recipe

Serves 6-8 as part of a buffet

Easy

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 10 mins

A star rating of 3.4 out of 5.12 ratingsRate

loading...

This salt and pepper prawns recipe makes the most of Sichuan peppercorns to give shellfish a celery-like taste. Serve with a Chinese-style chilli garlic dip

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Braised beef with ginger

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.139 ratings

Crisp Chinese pork belly

A star rating of 4.3 out of 5.37 ratings

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

2 tbsp cornflour
vegetable oil

for deep frying
24 large king prawns

peeled and deveined, with tails
pea shoots or baby salad

leaves, to serve (optional)

For the spice mix

1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
4 black peppercorns
2 tbsp sea salt

flakes
large pinch of chilli flakes

For the dipping sauce

1 garlic clove

crushed
1 tbsp chopped coriander

leaves
1 small red chilli

finely chopped
2 tbsp caster sugar
juice 3 limes
1 tbsp fish sauce

Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.

Nutrition: per serving (8)

kcal140
fat6g
saturates1g
carbs10g
sugars5g
fibre0g
protein11g
salt3.5g

Method

step 1

First, make the dipping sauce. Crush the garlic, coriander and chilli using a pestle and mortar. (If you don’t have one, just finely chop.) Pound in the sugar until dissolved, then add the lime juice and fish sauce. It should taste sweet, salty and spicy.
step 2

To make the spice mix, toast the Sichuan and black peppercorns in a frying pan over a medium heat for 1 min or until fragrant. Finely grind in a spice mill or using a pestle and mortar, then add the salt and chilli flakes and mix together. Transfer to a bowl.
step 3

Combine the spice mix with the cornflour. Heat 7.5cm of oil in a large wok or deep heavy-based saucepan. You can test the temperature by frying a small piece of bread – it should sizzle instantly and take 20 secs to turn golden. Toss the prawns with the spice mix, shake off the excess and deep-fry, in batches, for 1-2 mins or until crisp at the edges and starting to curl. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on a baking tray lined with kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the remaining prawns. Scatter over the pea shoots or salad leaves, if you like, and serve with the dipping sauce.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2013

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 3.4 out of 5.12 ratings

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.

Subscribe now