A tasty, good-looking dish with little preparation, steamed garlic prawns with vermicelli only takes a few minutes to cook. A great dish to impress your guests at dinner parties.
When dining out, prawn dishes are what I most frequently order. Provided they are fresh, they are always delicious regardless of the style of dish. Today I’m sharing one of my favourite prawn dishes that involves very little effort: Steamed garlic prawns with vermicelli (蒜蓉粉丝蒸虾).
Prawns have a beautiful taste on their own and usually require a minimum amount of preparation. In Chinese cuisine, prawns and other seafood are often briefly steamed to preserve their natural flavour. Steamed garlic prawns with vermicelli is a classic dish often served on important occasions. It tastes great and looks sophisticated. In fact, it’s super easy to prepare:
Three simple steps:
- Place soaked vermicelli on a plate then top with peeled prawns.
- Fry garlic and chilli for a few seconds then mix with other condiments.
- Pour the sauce over the prawns then steam for 5 minutes.
Garlicky, spicy and savoury
There is no doubt that prawns and garlic are a perfect pair. So be generous with the garlic. The use of minced fresh chilli is my personal touch. It gives the dish another dimension in flavour. In my version of steamed garlic prawns, I briefly fry garlic and chilli in oil before mixing with other sauce. This will maximise their flavour. I use light soy sauce, rice wine, white pepper, sugar and salt to make up the sauce. If you have shop-bought seasoned soy sauce for seafood to hand, you can simply use that instead.
Vermicelli absorbs all the flavour
In this dish, vermicelli refers to Chinese mung bean vermicelli noodles (粉丝) , a widely used ingredient in Chinese cuisine. Unlike regular noodles, they are seldom served as a staple food. You can find them in stir-fry, salad, stew, soup or steamed dish like this one. They come in a dry form so soaking beforehand is always required. When cooked, they become very soft, transparent and slippery. Having a rather plain taste, mung bean vermicelli noodles are great at absorbing flavours from other ingredients and sauces. On the dinner table in our Red House, vermicelli is always as popular as the prawns in this dish.
A tasty, good-looking dish with little preparation, steamed garlic prawns with vermicelli only takes a few minutes to cook. A great dish to impress your guests at dinner parties.
Ingredients
- 100g / 3.5oz mung bean vermicelli noodles
- 10 tiger prawns (about 250g / 9oz)
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh chilli (optional)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 pinch salt
- chopped spring onion (for garnishing, optional)
Instructions
- Soak vermicelli noodles in warm water for 5 minutes (or in cold water for 10 minutes) until they are soft and pliable. Rinse under cold water and drain. Then place them onto a plate.
- Peel the body shell of the prawns (keep the head and the tail). Put them flat on a chopping board then cut sideways from the back (Do not cut through). Then place them on top of the noodles with the body part open flat (see pictures above).
- Fry garlic and chilli in oil over a medium heat until fragrant (do not burn). Transfer to a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine, water, white pepper, sugar and salt, then mix well.
- Spoon the sauce onto the prawns. Then place the plate into a steamer filled with water. Bring the water to a boil. Then leave to steam over a low heat for 5 minutes (see note).
- Garnish with spring onion if you wish. Serve warm with plain rice.
Notes
Steaming advice: If you don’t have a steamer or your steamer is too small to hold a plate, you can use a wok instead. Pour some water in the wok. Place a small bowl in the water. Put the prawn plate on top. Cover with a lid then steam.
Wish you all a very pleasant time in your kitchen! If you like what I’m sharing on this blog, don’t forget to subscribe (in sidebar)! This way you won’t miss any new recipes.
Read more recipes using delicious prawns:
This is beautiful! Looks delicious. I have a hard time finding prawns with heads on, but may have to get them ordered so I can make this the way you did.
Thank you very much Erin! Prawns with heads on make the dish pretty and sophisticated, don’t they? Good luck to your prawn hunting!