Nanhu Prawns

Nanhu Prawns

　　Cuisine: Anhui cuisine

　　Flavor: Spicy-numbing

　　Price: 40–80 yuan

　　Features: The prawns have golden bodies with bright red tails, an elegant shape, and a crispy, fragrant taste.

　　Ingredients:

　　500g prawns, 50g egg white, 15g starch (corn), 50g scallion whites, 15g rice wine, 3g salt, 15g spicy salt, 30g sweet bean sauce, 100g sesame oil.

　　Preparation method:

　　1. Wash the prawns, peel off the shells but leave the tail shells. After shelling, place them in a bowl, season with salt and rice wine, and mix gently.

　　2. Beat the egg white in a bowl, add dry starch to make an egg white paste and set aside.

　　3. Place the wok over medium heat, add sesame oil, and heat until it reaches 50% heat. Hold two prawns by their tails, dip them in the egg white paste, then stick them back-to-back. Fry them in the pan (4–5 pairs at a time) until they float, then remove.

　　4. Turn up the heat to high and heat the oil to 70%. Put all the prawns back in the pan, deep-fry again until golden brown, then remove.

　　5. For plating, arrange the prawns with their tails facing outward in a circle, then stack upward in concentric circles to form a pagoda shape. Sprinkle with spicy salt.

　　6. Serve with small dishes of scallion whites and sweet bean sauce on the side.

　　Tips:

　　1. As frying is required, prepare about 1000g of sesame oil, with actual usage around 100g.

　　2. Prawns: Avoid eating prawns with certain fruits. Prawns are rich in protein and calcium. Eating them with tannic acid-containing fruits such as grapes, pomegranates, hawthorn, or persimmons can not only reduce the nutritional value of the protein, but also cause the tannic acid to combine with calcium ions to form insoluble compounds that irritate the stomach and intestines, leading to discomfort such as vomiting, dizziness, nausea, and abdominal pain or diarrhea. There should be at least a 2-hour interval between eating seafood and these fruits.