Pontian Wild King Prawns
笨珍野生红脚大虾
Types of Wild King Prawns
Pink in colour, bouncy in texture, umami in taste. Only the freshest, wildest king prawns got picked by our fisherman, and delivered straight to your doorsteps.
Shells ‘glued’ to the meat? Hard to peel? That’s just the natural prawns’ moulting cycle (regrow/renew of shell), a common myth of bad prawns. King prawns typically undergo tens of times throughout their life cycle, and every moult cycle causes the shell to turn soft for days. If our fisherman happens to catch it during the cycle, then you will have softshell prawns. Just like how they harvest softshell crab.
Though, we try our best to handpick out all the softshell one, sometimes these sneaky shrimp still slip through our QC. But rest assure that they are as fresh as thier hard-shell brothers.
It’s wild caught, preservative-free, from the mangrove water of Pontian, Johor. Try it yourself and never look at other prawns again.
The top prawn probably swims from Africa to Melacca. Well….actually:
(Top down)
1. Giant Tiger Prawns
Scientific: Penaeus Monodon
Malay: Udang Harimau
Hokkien: Hor Heh heh heh
2. King Prawn (yellow leg)
Scientific: Penaeus Latisulcatus
Malay: Udang kaki merah
Hokkien: Tua Heh
3. King Prawn (red leg)
Same as 2.
4. Banana prawn
Scientific: Panaeus Merguiensis
Malay: Udang Puteh
Hokkien: Ming Heh heh heh
How To Make: Salt and Pepper Wild King Prawns
Ingredients
- 2 pounds large wild king prawns, peeled, deveined and butterflied (shell may be left on if desired)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepperCanola oil for deep-frying1/4cup minced green onions
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red Fresno chili, seeded and minced
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Steps
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt and white pepper and set aside. In another small bowl, combine the green onion, ginger, garlic, chili, and five spice powder. In a third small bowl, combine the remaining salt, sugar, and black pepper and set all aside.
- Right before serving, fill a wok or deep pan with 3 inches of canola oil. Heat the oil over medium high heat to 375F on a deep-fry thermometer. Once the oil is ready, working in 2 batches, toss the prawns in the cornstarch mixture, shake off the excess and slide the prawns into the oil. Fry until light golden brown and until the shrimp just turns orange, 15 to 20 seconds. Use a wire skimmer to transfer the shrimp to a baking sheet double lined with paper towels. Allow the oil to reheat and fry the second batch.
- Heat a separate wok or a large sauté pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and stir-fry the green onion and chili mixture until fragrant, several seconds. While continuously stirring, add the salt, sugar and black pepper mixture. Return the flash-fried shrimp to the pan stir-fry until the shrimp are well-coated with the spice seasoning and heated through. Transfer the shrimp to a warmed serving platter and serve immediately.
Also Try: Creamy Butter Prawms
