Traditional vs Modernist
“Har Lok” is a popular Chinese dish. At its heart, the recipe is dead simple. Shell-on prawns are fried in a lot of very hot oil, and then dark soya is added (along with a few optional ingredients). And you are done!
This is my traditional version :
This is a delightful, and luxurious, but, a casual dish. No, you don’t order this for a first date. You eat this with your hands, and you have to lick that delicious sauce off the shells, peel, and eat. It ain’t pretty.
Now, here is my modernist Har Lok you can order for a first date – and it is just a delicious!
The Idea
The beauty of this dish comes from the shells and the heads. When shell-on prawns are fried in hot oil, a wonderful elixir results, a rich prawn scented oil. This makes the dish special.
The modernist twist here : first deshell the prawns. Fry the heads and shells in oil, to render that prized elixir. Separately, fry the prawn tails under high heat, and reassemble the dish.
It works.
Ingredients
All you really, really need, are the freshest, whole shrimp, a good dark soya sauce, and oil. Some chinese wine helps. (See notes)
- About 300g whole prawns
- A tablespoon dark soya sauce
- A teaspoon light soya sauce
- A tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- Cooking oil, a high smoke point, neutral one (like corn or peanut)</li
Mise
Let’s start with the prawns :
Remove heads and shell
If you are really serious, separate the heads and shells.
Marinate the tails in a little Shaoxing wine
Mix together a tablespoon of dark, and a teaspoon of light soya. Dilute this with about two tablespoons water.
Mise en place!
Cook!
Heat a good few tablespoons of oil in a pan at medium heat, till the oil shimmers. Toss in the prawn shells, and garlic.
Allow this to cook a while, till the shells are cooked and appear crisp. The heads go in next….
Let the heads cook a bit, till the shells are slight crispy, but not dried out ( I am assuming you will eat them).
And look what you have got!
Prawn oil. Try to use every drop.
At this point, I clean up the frying pan with a quick wash or wipe, then place in back and the stove with a little oil, and turn the heat up, till the oil almost smokes.
In go the shelled prawns, to a very hot pan.
A little more wine hurts no one.
Allow the prawns to cook about half way, then turn the heat down. Let things cool a bit, then the magic liquid. Prawn oil.
Doesn’t that look good? You see that crust that has formed on the prawns, that is what I like, and its hard to get this with the shells on – the meat will not taste the same.
Give things a toss, then add the soya sauce mixture.
And you are done!
Plate the dish, serving the heads as well if desired. Don’t waste any of that precious gravy!
Eat!
