Prawn stir-fry with rice

Stir-fry meals are fantastic because they are super simple, quick to cook, and taste great. Here is a basic recipe for stir-fry prawns with two flavour variations – spicy and sweet.

For the prawns, you can use frozen prawns already peeled, or you can buy prawns and peel them yourself. Just make sure you are buying raw prawns, not cooked prawns.

Preparation

Peel and crush 2 cloves of garlic, and then chop up all the vegetables that you want to use. You can use whatever you love, but standard veges that we use include capsicum, broccoli, spinach, snow peas, carrots and onion.

I often cook the vegetables in the microwave for a few minutes first to make the meal even quicker. We use broccoli a lot, so I steam it for 2 minutes in the microwave, and then add to the stir fry.

I also love nuts or seeds in my stir fry, and we use peanuts, cashews or sesame seeds. I dry fry these in a small fry pan to freshen them up – takes about 3 minutes but you have to watch them so they don’t burn!

Cooking

Stir-fry is a rather quick cooking process, but it is also important that you cook things in the right order.

I start with garlic and onion and fry this in the wok or frypan, which has a tablespoon of peanut oil heated up over high heat. Then I add the capsicum and cook it for another minute until it starts to change colour. Next is the pre-cooked broccoli, which I also cook for another minute or so in the pan. Then I throw in the prawns, and start adding the flavours.

Flavour Variations

For sichuan pepper (spicy) – add about 1 tablespoon each of oyster sauce and soy sauce, and about 1/4 cup of chicken stock. Add regular black pepper as well as the sichuan peppercorns. You can leave them out until serving to adjust the spiciness of each meal.

For honey, soy, chilli (sweet) – add 2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce, 1 tablespoon of sauce sauce, and a good dollop of honey (approx. 2 tablespoons).

Cook this out for a few minutes or until the prawns change colour (don’t overcook it, they should have just turned a pink / orange colour), and then add spinach or snow peas if you are using them. Taste the liquid to see if it’s yummy or not. Adjust as necessary. Then get ready to serve.

To Serve

Rice goes down first, (or noodles if you prefer), and then add the stir-fry. I like to top it off with the nuts or seeds, as well as fried shallots which you can buy at most supermarkets or Asian specialty stores. Finish with fresh herbs such as coriander or mint, and a splash of sesame oil for an authentic seasoning.

Finally, add some spice with more sichuan pepper or chilli. I tend to add it when serving, so that my kids get a little bit and my husband and I get a bit more. I simply sprinkle it over the top after I’ve served.

So, plenty of options and you can really make a stir-fry your own.

Enjoy.