[thechat] Cooking questions: Japanese ingredients

[Madhu Menon]

At 02:37 13/12/2003, David Wagner wrote:
>I thought about writing to Madhu directly on this, but I realized I should 
>probably open it up to thechat, both to get more opinions and to spread 
>his cooking wisdom to everyone.

Sorry dude. I don't do Japanese. Far too bland for me. ;)

If you want Chinese brands, here are some ideas (brands may not be available)

Soy Sauce - Pearl River Bridge
Rice Wine - Hua Tiao Chiew
Sesame Oil - Lee Kum Kee
Oyster Sauce - Lee Kum Kee or Mae Krua (Thailand)

I'm feeling generous, so I'm going to share my recipe for Garlic-peppered 
Prawns/Shrimp, one of my specialties. Since it's unbelievably easy to make 
and takes about 3 minutes, give it a shot. Just don't change any of the 
quantities involved. Seriously.


WHAT YOU NEED

Shrimps in their shell - about 200 gm (7 oz)
Garlic - finely chopped - 2 tbsp (I'm not kidding)
Freshly crushed (very important) white pepper (or black if you can't get 
white) - 1 tbsp (I'm still not kidding!)
Fish or light soy sauce - 2 tsp
Cornflour - 2 tsp
Vegetable oil - 1 tsp

Vegetable oil for deep frying - 2 cups

HOW TO MAKE IT
1) Remove prawns from shell. Keep the shells for prawn stock in your Tom 
Yam soup.

2) Devein prawns. Rub about a tablespoon of crushed sea salt (or regular 
salt in a pinch) in them, soak in a bowl of water and keep for 10 minutes. 
When the water turns murky, get rid of it. Rinse prawns well to remove the 
salt.

3) Now your prawns will be less slimy and juicier. Pat dry with kitchen towels.

4) Mix prawns with garlic, pepper, fish sauce, 1 tsp oil, and cornflour. 
Set aside for 10 minutes to 2 hours.

5) Heat vegetable oil for deep-frying. Test to see if oil is hot enough by 
tossing in a piece of garlic. If it rises to the top immediately and 
sizzles merrily, it's hot enough. If it sinks and stays sunk, it's not hot 
enough. If it sizzles furiously and turns brownish-black in under 5 
seconds, it's too bloody hot. Adjust heat accordingly.

6) Put the prawns in the oil. Don't put them too close to each other or 
they'll stick.

7) After 30 seconds, pull them out using a strainer. Yessir, 30 seconds 
unless you're using big freakin' jumbo prawns. Don't worry; they continue 
to cook for another 30 seconds after that. But overcooking prawns is a 
disaster. Just eat your shoe instead. :)

8) That's it. No, really, that's all. Bite into the prawns and enjoy. Have 
a drink to go with it.

Regards,

Madhu

-- 
Now playing on mTunes: "Who let the chilli out?" by Grilled Shrimp from 
"Seafood Platter" - a hit from 2003