Prawns in Garlic Tomato sauce

Seafood is my all time favorite food. When I do not have much time and I still want to eat seafood, I would usually cook an easy seafood dish. One of the most easy seafood dish that my friends and I like to eat is my sauté of tempura prawns in garlic tomato sauce.

What I like about this recipe is the light crispiness of the tempura prawns combined with the garlic tomato sauce. The tomato and garlic, which enhance the sweet & salty flavor, particularly opens appetite. 

Ingredient:

- 250 gram prawns (about 7 prawns, depending on the size)

- 1 garlic clove finely minced

- Garlic Tomato Sauce: When I have time, I make the sauce from scratch by using sugar, soy sauce, garlic cloves finely minced, tomatoes, tomatoes paste, salted chili peppers, salt, cornstarch, water and honey. When I make this sauce, I usually make it in big quantity and divide the sauce between small containers to put in the freezer. So when I know that I will make this dish in evening, I usually take one small container out of the freezer in the morning. But when I am busy, I just buy the Garlic Tomato sauce from Lee Kum Kee. I would advise you to buy this sauce from Lee Kum Kee to save some time, at least for the first time you make this dish. If you really love this dish, then you may try to make the garlic tomato sauce from scratch.

You can usually buy this Garlic Tomato sauce at Chinese supermarkets:

- Batter to make tempura prawn: When I have time, I make the batter from scratch ( (1 egg, about 1.5 cup ice water, and just a bit more than 1.5 cup flour mixed together). To save your time, I would advise you to buy tempura flour. You can usually find tempura flour in Japanese and Chinese supermarkets. There are several brands depending on the country where you live. I usually use this tempura flour:

Procedure:

1) Clean the prawn and remove the shell of the prawn but leave the head. 

Then check to see if there is a black line running down the back of the prawn. This is the intestinal tract. Remove this black line by using a small, sharp knife: make a shallow cut along the length of the black line, then lift it out.  After having removed the black line for all the prawns, put the prawns under cold water to make sure everything is cleaned. Then pat them dry with a kitchen towel.

2) Prepare the tempura batter. Either make it from scratch or buy a bag of tempura flour. If you buy the tempura flour, just follow the direction mentioned on the bag to make the tempura batter.

3) Heat up vegetable oil (I usually use Olive oil) in a wok over medium high temperature.

4) When the oil is ready, dip the prawns in the batter. Then gently drop them into the oil. Lightly fry about 2 to 4 minutes per side (this really depends on the heat you are using).

5) Remove the tempura prawns from the wok and put them on a paper towel to remove as much oil as possible from them.

6) When you have finished to fry all the prawns, take another wok. Heat medium-high this wok. When the wok is warm, add just a bit of oil (about 1 teaspoon). When the oil is also warm, drop 1 clove of garlic that is finely minced and the tempura prawns. Stir for just a few seconds then add the "garlic tomato sauce" (either from Lee Kum Kee or from the one you have made from scratch). Stir for about 1 minute (medium heat). Then it is ready to serve.

The tempura prawns in the garlic tomato sauce is so tasteful that I would advise you to cook a big quantity of Chinese white rice to accompany and balance of its flavor.

Enjoy it !