I cooked: Steamed Prawns with Shaoxing wine and Egg White

For us, one of the nicest ways to enjoy fresh prawns is to simply steam them with just a little Chinese Shaoxing wine. This way, we can enjoy the natural sweetness of the prawns.

This is a very light and healthy tasting dish, in Chinese we call it "" (ching) since not much oil is used in the preparation of this dish. To prevent the prawns from curling during steaming, you can skewer each prawn on the underside with a bamboo stick or small toothpick. However, I skipped this step since I used a small heatproof dish which fitted the prawns nicely (compact so it didn't curl).

Usually most of the prawn dishes that I cook uses peeled prawns for ease of eating,but this is definitely one prawn dish worth getting your hands dirty for!

Sweet, fresh and juicy prawns

Chinese steamed prawns with Shaoxing wine and egg white
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
12-13 prawns, trimmed, with shell on, and head and tail intact
1 inch old ginger, julienned
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg white
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2-3 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

1/2 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp cooking oilSpring onion, to garnish


1. Wash prawns and pat dry. Using a sharp knife, score the back of the prawn to expose the flesh.

2. Pour egg white into a heatproof dish (I used a 23cm round dish). Arrange the prawns on top of the egg white, and sprinkle the julienned ginger and salt on top. Pour over the Shaoxing wine and sesame oil evenly and leave to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

3. In a frying pan, heat the oil over high heat. Add the shallot and garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Add shallot and garlic to the prawns (do not add the oil).

4. In a steamer over high heat, steam the prawns for 5 minutes or until cooked. Do not overcook the prawns or texture will become hard and rubbery. Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.