This dish has been a huge HIT back in my restaurant days. Just the idea of candied walnuts with a creamy fried shrimp heralds back to days of wealth and good will towards men (okay, a little bit dramatic but you get the idea).
So while on the surface this dish LOOKS the part as the swanky complicated bell of the ball, it's actually one of the easiest to prepare. For this recipe, we will be preparing different components separately and then bringing them in together at the end.
So let's get crafting and LET'S COOK!
Ingredients
- 1lb large white shrimps(peeled , deveined and dried it with paper towel)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup cornstarch(add more if needed)
- 1 tbs oil
- 1 bunch Broccoli (cut up and boiled)
- 1 cup walnuts (raw and whole)
- 1 ts salt
- 1/4 sugar
- 4-5 cups oil (for frying)
- 5 tbs mayo
- 4 tbs sweetened condensed milk
Shrimp Marinade/Batter
In a big bowl combine the cornstarch, egg and a tbs of oil. Mix it very well till all ingredients are combined. Then add in your shrimp (make sure you remove as much water from the shrimp as possible) and evenly coat the shrimp with your newly constructed marinade. Good practice for dried shrimp is to prepare your shrimp BEFORE adding to the batter marinade so that they are nice and dry. Having freshly defrosted or wet shrimp will not also be more dangerous when frying, but it will also prevent the marinade from coating the shrimp evenly and will result in a less crispy end product. |
| Cleaned, deveined, trimmed, and towel dried to remove an excess water and moisture. The deveining process also slightly butterflies the shrimp giving it an appealing shape and texture after frying. |
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| Mix the shrimp before or after, the result will be the same. |
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| You will start to see the natural moisture of the shrimp in your marinade batter mixture. This is why it's important to not use frozen or wet shrimp. |
So good advice is to prepare the shrimp hours in advance (cleaned, dried,) and set it in a colander in the fridge to drip dry for a while. Then when you prepare your marinade, you can add your cold/dry shrimp to the marinade.
Sweet Creamy Sauce
The creamy sauce is also very simple. Combine the condensed milk and the mayonnaise in a bowl. Then you set this aside for later. |
| Add mayo. Add condensemilk. Use a spoon. You win. |
Steamed Broccoli
In a small pot and bring half pot of water with couple spoon of oil and ts of salt to boil. Then add in the broccoli to the water when it comes to a nice rolling boil. Let it cook for a couple minutes then drain it , set it aside. From our last blog post, you'll remember what I said about blanching vegetables in this water solution- it gives it a great fresh taste without removing any nutritional value from the vegetables. You'll know your broccoli is done when it's color turns a vibrant bright green. |
| Boil water with salt and a little oil to blanch some perfect vegetables. |
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| Broccoli will turn a bright green when it's ready to be removed from the heat. |
Candied Walnuts
In pan/pot, bring couple Qt of water to boil, throw in the raw walnut with a ts salt, let it boil for a minute then drain it. This will soften the inside of the walnut and prevent it from burning quickly. Set it aside.
In another pan, heat it up in medium/low heat then add sugar with couple tbs of water and the walnut, start stirring vigorously until the sugar dissolves. Then put the walnuts on a plate and let it cool off.
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| Once on the heat, keep stirring and mixing the pan because that sugar will eventually burn if left along for too long. |
Frying Process
In a sauce pot/pan heat up about 4-5cups of vegetable oil (365-375 degrees). Use a thermometer to find the right temperature. If it's too cool, then everything will get soggy with oil. If the oil is too hot, then it will burn everything.
Once the oil is hot enough, add in the candied walnuts and fry it for a minute. Then remove from the oil and place it on a plate or tray to rest for about an hour. You may also put them in the fridge to reduce the cool down time to about 30 minutes.
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| The frying will finish the candying process of the walnuts. |
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| Place on a plate once done frying. Let them cool down (so the sugar hardens like candy). |
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| Work with what you are comfortable with. The shrimp will only fry for about a minute if your temperature of the oil is correct. |
Same rule of thumb when deep frying- do NOT add too many pieces at a time. Adding too much will lower the temperature of the oil and make it trickier to control the cook time and doneness of each round. Work with what you are comfortable with without burning yourself on accident. Oil burns are no joke, believe me. Start with one or two pieces, then slowly begin frying with more. Depending on how large your pan is, I would only want to fry 5-8 pieces at a time. Transfer fried pieces to a tray or plate with a napkin or towel to remove any excess oil.
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| Rule #1- let the excess oil drain. Rule#2- refrain from eating all the shrimp (because it's easy to do so). |
Plating
Once the shrimp have been cooked, let them rest while we prepare our serving dish. Place your blanched broccoli on your serving plate around the rim and then work your way towards the center. You want to have a small place reserved for your cooked shrimp in the middle. Imagine a forest with a clearing or a field in the middle. |
| Mmmmm the Broccoli Forest |
Once your shrimp have cooled a little and excess oil drained, mix the fried shrimp with the sweet creamy sauce in a big bowl. Evenly coat the shrimp in the sauce and plate it in the center of your mini forest of broccoli. Finally, garnish and dress your dish with your candied walnuts.
And there you have it- Crispy Prawn with Candy Walnuts in Sweet Creamy Sauce! A dish that is easily prepared as long as you can follow a recipe. Restaurant quality food for a homecooked price. :)
Next time-
" Three Cup Wings"
Happy cooking and God Bless!
~Hoby
1 Peter 5:7
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you."
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