King Prawns and Cashews in a Sweet and Sour Sauce

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In this recipe the king prawns are quickly fried in oil, to preserve their freshness before stir fried in a sweet and sour sauce. Served with caramelised cashews, they add another layer of crunchy texture.

Read our Ultimate Guide to Stir Fry Sauce first. You'll learn the essential rules of stir fry, plus more great stir fry sauce recipes. Browse ingredients you might need for the recipes at our Chinese supermarket online.

How to tailor the recipe to your tastes

The prawns can simply be swapped out for chicken if you prefer. And if you are not a fan of cashews they can be swapped out for peanuts. Similarly, if you don't have any dried Sichuan chillis you can use fresh red chillies instead.

Ingredients

200g king prawns
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
1 tsp potato starch
1 tbsp neutral cooking oil
100g cashews
2 cloves of sliced garlic
A thumb of sliced ginger, roughly the same amount as the garlic
2 spring onions
2 tbsp dried Sichuan chillies

For the sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1.5 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp water
1 pinch MSG
1/2 tsp Sichuan pepper oil
1/2 tsp potato starch

Preparation

Marinate the prawns: Rinse and clean your prawns. Pat dry and marinate with the salt, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine and 1 tsp of starch. Massage the marinade into the prawns so it is absorbed. Leave for 15 mins before cooking.
Prepare the sauce: Mix together the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, sugar, water, MSG, Sichuan pepper oil and potato starch. Set aside to use later.

Method

Heat up the oil in a wok to a medium heat, and gently deep fry the cashews till they are light golden brown. Lift the cashews out of the oil and set aside.
In the same oil, gently blanch the prawns for 60 seconds. Drain, leaving a little oil in the wok for stir frying.
Add the garlic, the equivalent of sliced ginger and spring onion whites. Stir fry medium heat until aromatic.
Add the dried Sichuan chillis then the prawns and cashews. Toss all together briefly for 30 seconds then add the prepared sauce.
Once the sauce thickens and coats the other ingredients, take it off the heat. Add spring onion greens and serve immediately.

About the author

Lap Fai Lee is a Birmingham cook, tutor, food stylist, private cook and teacher. He specialises in world cuisine, showcasing central and south American, south-east Asian and Oriental dishes to the food industry. When he's not cooking, his range of cookery classes varies from seafood to charcuterie and knife skills to Oriental cooking.