Nest-Glued Prawns (Wo Tie Ming Xia)
Slice the prawns and pork fat, marinate, coat in batter, and deep-fry until the exterior is crisp and the interior tender.
Ingredients
Prawns (cleaned; large ones cut into 3 segments, small ones into 2 segments, yielding 24 pieces)
360 g
Pork fat (cut into rectangular slices, 24 pieces)
150 g
Egg yolks
2
Ham
15 g
Fine salt (used in parts)
3 tsp
MSG (used in parts)
1 tsp
Shaoxing wine (the original reads "Shao", inferred to be Shaoxing wine)
0.5 tbsp
Dry starch
1.5 tbsp
Vegetable oil
500 g
Instructions
1
Prepare the prawns
Clean the prawns. Cut large ones into 3 segments and small ones into 2 segments, yielding 24 pieces. Marinate with half of the fine salt and half of the MSG.
2
Prepare the pork fat
Cut the pork fat into rectangular slices (24 pieces). Place in a bowl with the remaining fine salt, the remaining MSG, and the Shaoxing wine to marinate.
3
Make the batter
Crack the eggs and take the yolks. Add the dry starch and a pinch of fine salt to make a thick paste (the nest-glue batter). Divide the paste into two bowls, then add the marinated prawns and the marinated pork fat to the bowls separately and toss until each is evenly coated.
4
Assemble and pan-fry
Lay the pork fat slices flat one by one, place a prawn piece on top of each, press a small piece of ham onto the prawn, dip the coated pieces in the remaining batter to seal, then pan-fry in vegetable oil over medium heat until the pork fat side is golden and crisp and the prawns are just cooked through. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
