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Salted Egg Yolk Prawns

Salted egg yolk prawns are a Cantonese restaurant showpiece, and the trick is entirely in the sauce. Cooked salted duck egg yolks are mashed and fried in butter until they foam into a sandy golden coating that sticks to everything it touches.

Buy the yolks ready-cooked from an Asian grocer if you can, or steam the whole salted eggs and scoop them out. Mash them properly: any lump that survives the fork will still be a lump on the plate.

Servings
4
Prep Time
15
mins
Cook Time
10
mins
Ingredients
11
Total Time
25
mins

Pantry bits

Cornflour
Cornflour

Ingredients

  • 700g large green prawns, peeled and deveined, tails on
  • 3 tbsp cornflour
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • Neutral oil, for shallow frying
  • 4 cooked salted duck egg yolks
  • 50g butter
  • 6 curry leaves
  • 2 birds eye chillies, sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp evaporated milk, optional

Instructions

  1. Steam the salted egg yolks for 8 minutes if raw, then mash them to a fine paste with the back of a fork. Lumps will not melt later, so work them out now.
  2. Pat the prawns completely dry and toss with the cornflour and salt.
  3. Heat 2cm of oil in a wok over medium high heat and fry the prawns in batches for about 90 seconds until just pink and lightly crisp. Drain on paper towel and pour off all but 1 tbsp of the oil.
  4. Melt the butter in the wok over low heat, add the curry leaves, chilli and garlic and fry for 1 minute until the leaves crackle.
  5. Add the mashed yolks and sugar and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. The mixture will foam up and turn sandy and golden; that foam is what coats the prawns. Loosen with the evaporated milk if it looks dry.
  6. Return the prawns, toss hard for 30 seconds until every one is covered, and serve immediately.

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Telur Balado (Indonesian Chilli Eggs)
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