Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Butter Cereal Prawns

I have read that Butter Cereal Prawns is a dish concoted in Singapore. I'm not sure if this is true or not but it definitely has gained a following in seafood restaurants. The essence of this dish is deep fried prawns and the crispy cereal. If you think it sounds weird, believe me once you taste this dish you wouldn't think so at all. Heh if you can have cereal in say a cookie, why not in a savoury dish!

However I must confess that I did a shortcut with this dish. I bought ready made cereal prawn mix in a packet. If you are in Asia, you should be able to get this in your regular supermarket. If you are not in this part of the world, you may be able to get a pack in your local Asian grocery shop.

cereal prawn


Butter Cereal Prawns
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 packet of store-bought cereal prawn mix (found in Asian groceries - I used Singlong brand)
2 sprigs curry leaves
350g large prawns
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 chilli padi (bird’s eye chilli), sliced thinly
30g butter
vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

1) Using a pair of kitchen scissors cut off the legs and trim the heads and tails slightly.

2) Using a very sharp knife slit across the top of the prawn and pull out the veins. Leave the shell and heads intact.

3) In a wok, add enough oil to cover the prawns. Once the oil is hot, add the prawns and deep fry until cooked. Remove the prawns and set aside.

4) Melt butter in the wok, add the curry leaves and fry for about 30 seconds. Then add in the egg yolks and fry until cooked. Then add in the cereal mix and quickly fry until fragrant. Lower the fire to prevent the cereal from burning.

5) Then add back the cooked prawns and coat entirely with the cereal. Serve hot.

cereal prawn 1


cereal prawn 3

25 comments:

  1. No, it's concocted in Malaysia! Haha, it's funny how always Malaysia and Singapore fight and always claim dishes as theirs. Anyhow, it's a yummy dish..Hmmmm....if you read the ingredient lists behind the pack, it says cereal + msg and nothing else, which was why I stopped using after a while. Maybe those packets in Sg is not like that.

    My grandma's trick, if you coat the trimmed prawns with a dash of turmeric powder only deep fry, the prawns will have no prawn-y smell and looks better too!

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  2. Yum! My daughter and I love this dish and we always end up eating the cereal more. There's also the salted egg version and it's good too.

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  3. Hi Quinn, I know what you mean about Malaysian and Singaporean! And I'm Malaysian .. haha! Hmm msg - no wonder it was so tasty! Any way this is the first time I'm making this and I guess if once in a while, it won't really hurt! Thanks for the tip on the tumeric powder.

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  4. Very nice clicks! I love cereal prawns, very much!
    I've tried to use cereal prawn mix before but different brand. The result wasn't as good as I expected :(

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  5. Looks super delicious! I would love to trade one (maybe two?) for my scallops with carrot ginger sauce!

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  6. I love this dish! Used to have this a lot in the restaurants but not anymore nowadays as the parents are more health conscious =P

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  7. YES...that's my favourite! I'm drooling! I can eat a big plate. It's really delicious...mmm

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  8. I love this dish and like you said is a must order dish from the seafood restaurant back in Malaysia. Like busygran I am more interested in the crispy bits than the prawns ha ha...I too bought a packet of the ready mix from New York but have yet to try it out. Thanks for the reminder :)

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  9. Crispy, crunchy, buttery. Loving the flavors in this one, especially the spice!

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  10. yum! I have never heard of this dish but looking at the ingredients, it's soo lovely!

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  11. Jo pack some over. I can literally sink my teeth into the screen now.

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  12. This is definitely one dish which you just have to cook from a premix. I have no idea ho it's ever done from scratch! And certainly, the head and shells must be kept on ... hmmm crunchy and yummy! Your prawns are perfectly crisp. I like Singlong brand, BTW. ;)

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  13. I second Quinn. It's from Malaysia, not Singapore!!! Hahaha! Good looking dish, Jo! Very well done.

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  14. Hi Jo,

    Same as you, I will just buy the readily available packet from the markets, why take the trouble to make one right? I always want to cook this but as always, something came first and i had to postpone it till later date, haha! It sounds so simple to cook and i will definitely try to make it onw day.

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  15. Extremely yummy.....pictures make me hungry...

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  16. I don't know who created the dish. I just know it is yummy and I love it. Agree with Ju, premix is the way to go since I am not in the position to buy a whole container of Nestum cereals to cook this :D

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  17. Wow looks yummy. Really tantalizing!
    Have you tried the Cereal Mantis Prawn version?

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  18. this is the favourite dish of my husband, I shd try making it one day :)

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  19. Those prawns look so delicious! I can't wait to try them.

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  20. that's the brand I use too. Love this dish, so much cheaper to make at home :)

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  21. Hello hello Jo :)

    Yesterday was a blast!

    Nice meeting you! You are an amazing cook!

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  22. The name had me wondering but they look great! I love butter prawns when I go back to Malaysia =)

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  23. Ready mix cereal or not, this dish is truly mouth watering. A simple dish that fits any occasion, thanks for sharing :-)

    Sawadee from bangkok,
    Kris

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  24. looks delicious
    http://torviewtoronto.blogspot.com

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