Many people love to eat prawns despite all that have been said about them being not that good for health and there must be a thousand and one ways to cook prawns, for instance the nyonya favourite – the assam prawns or the Chinese-style butter prawns or drunken prawns. However, I remember that my mother used to cook them in soy sauce and every time when we had prawns, it would be a real delightful treat for the family.
I don’t know how much they cost then but today, these udang galah (freshwater prawns) are by no means cheap…
Such big ones are RM32 a kilo but when I bought them that day, the lady gave me a RM2 discount and charged me RM30, not that it made a whole lot of difference. I counted and there were 15 altogether so I guess it worked out to RM2.00 each.
Well, to cook it the way my mum used to, you will need a few slices of ginger, that’s all…
The chillies are optional – we never had that when we were kids as we were not used to spicy stuff at the time.
Heat one tablespoon of sesame oil in the wok and add the ginger. Once they turn a little brown, throw in the chillies and the prawns. Pour in some soy sauce (around three or four tablespoons) and sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the prawns. You may want to add some traditional Foochow red wine, around three tablespoons of that…which I did and add a little bit of water and stir to mix everything thoroughly. Once the prawns have turned red and have curled up, that is an indication that they are cooked…but allow it to simmer for a while till much of the sauce has evaporated so that you will have a richer and thicker gravy.
The dish is ready to be served…
That day, when I cooked these prawns, I also fried some midin (wild fern) with sambal udang kering (dried prawns), the same way many people would fry kangkong or sweet potato leaves…
That certainly was a delightful dinner but at those prices, we would not be having this very often, of that I am pretty certain.
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OMG!!! All of these are my fav!!! Darn! too bad these days I’m hooked with things, else I would have dragged my kawans along wif me to stuff our faces! Tsk… got to find time one of these days…
Come Friday, and my feasting will begin in Penang. Yum! Yum!
SULK
Hehehehehehe!!!! Muahahahaha!!!!
Err… how come the prawns looks a little bit headless? u chopped them off before cook ah?
Yup, for these freshwater prawns, we have to chop off the tip of the head and remove some black stuff in it and then cut the tip at the tail and pull out the vein. Last time, had to do it myself but these days, one stall owned by a couple – they will do all that. The missus will clean the head and the hubby will de-vein the prawn…
You mean u dun eat the ‘otak udang’ and the orangey stuff in it? Very sedap wan leh!
Of course we eat that! Best lah! But we need to remove that little bit of black stuff in the head…and if you do not know how to do it, you will remove all the orange stuff – so sayang! The people at this stall do it so well…and so easily too. Not like me when I used to do it, sweating plus-plus! LOL!!!
gosh!! i can see a lot of eggssss embedded… my favourite too… but dare not eat so much only.. this is really tempting!!
At that price, we do not have much choice. Can only have it once in a blue moon – maybe on special occasions.
I knew it… i should have taken my breakfast before going her because for sure you will tempt me again by these dishes LOL
Like they always say, some people never learn! Muahahahaha!!!
going here*
LOL!!! I did not even notice that!
wow can’t believe you call it Kang Kong too…Mom used to cook it by putting soy sauce and vinegar on it… oh and also tokwa (i think it’s also called To fu)…
I also love the stew Kang Kong and then dip with Bagoong
Tau kua here is the tofu cake with an outer layer of thin skin…and we also have tofu pok which is fried tofu. Blanched kangkong here, we eat with belacan or sambal udang kering (pounded dried prawn dip) and bagoong or what we call cincaluk, we eat with cucumber.
I call tofu ‘taukua’ too.
Not the same.
the prawns looked huge! and I think I can spot some prawn roe too…
Sometimes there are even bigger ones…but the bigger ones are mostly head – very heavy and not much to eat. Not worth the price, and they’re a lot more expensive too – only look nice.
Now, i would agree that prawns nowadays are very the expensive, that’s why i long time no eat already, i remember the last time i walloped two big prawns from the nasi kandar store,he charged me RM8 for one, i asked that guy,” apa pasal mahal sangat” rudely he replied,” you makan, you tahu udang tu mahal ka,,,,?”
I miss my mom sambal prawns, i would really love it so much, love it even more if i had a plate of hot and spicy sambal belacan to dip the prawns into, i mean lagi syiok and some more some more, if got cucumber , best lah betul.
Now everybody seems to be telling me, don’t eat prawns too much, high colesterol and what not, i guess ok also lah, cos expensive ma,,,,,,,so got more reason to refrain from makaning.
Yalor…so expensive, so have to do without it…and in a way, that’s a blessing in disguise considering that it is not good for health. We do cook sambal prawns too but that’s a different recipe…and of course, it entails a lot more work in the preparation – not for me except maybe on special occasions. I’m simply too lazy. LOL!!!
Your RM8 prawn must be very big. Here, my daughter and I saw one really big at a Malay stall a long time ago…and they wanted RM10 for one – I told my daughter no need, and we went to the market and bought our own to cook. So much cheaper and so much more to enjoy…
Very delicious leh but then it’s high in cholesterol. Not healthy cikgu, don’t eat too much…lol
No worries! Even if I want to, I cannot…simply too expensive for the likes of me!
Heard the culprit for coldless colesterol comes from the prawn head not so much from the meat. Wow Eugene, raw at RM2 and the price got cooked four times.
That’s what they say…but that’s the nicest part especially if it has the gooey otak udang… YUM! LOL!!! Eugene’s one may be bigger – 4 times.
But when they are so big, usually only the head is very big…and the body is actually quite small. A lot more expensive, of course…and not worth it!
Got one cikgu named Mr Goh in my primary school days whose signature & a trade mark of him is ‘otak udang’ to ‘scold’ students as ‘stupidddddddddd’.
Luckily none of his students retorted, “Itu sangat sedap, cikgu!” LOL!!!
yum..yum..both nampak sedap, udang memang best
Too bad…can’t take too often – not good for health and too expensive! LOL!!!
Yous fresh water prawns dish looks great… wah, got a lot of roe some more! I think simply steam also taste heavenly!
Not really into steamed prawns…though I don’t mind having it like that. Even at restaurants would seldom/never order the steamed drunken prawns – usually would opt for the fried butter or cereal prawns or the kiam sor hay (salty & crispy prawns), they call it.
OMG!…drooling!…both dishes looks tempting…especially the prawns!….
Used to cook more or less like your style and I used “assam” instead of soya sauce…but hor!…I still prefer it steam with chopped garlic, ginger, chilli and sprinkle a few drops of wine…just simple like that…and it taste marvellous.
Yes!..midin is best if cooked with belacan and so is kangkong. These days midin fetch a good price. A small bundle would cost RM2.50..haiz!…….
That day, I bought at my regular Bandong kuih stall…one big plastic bag for RM2.50 – a lot. If only the curls, RM4 a bag but I kept in the car for too long and by the time I got home, a lot turned black already…and I threw about half away…but still I could fry a plate of it – still so much. Ya, I think I know the assam sweet and sour prawns you are talking about – quite dry, no sauce one right…just the marinade sticking to the prawns. I like that too… Must cook that sometime – that one, can use “pek hay” (white prawns – the sea water ones) that are a lot cheaper, at least half the price.
We can only get freshwater prawns at kampung area caught and sold by orang asli but still they are more expensive than the price in Sibu.
You can cook very well. I don’t have the motivation to be a good cook because I have the feeling that once a cook, forever a cook. Men in West M’sia (in my opinion) are less inclined to help their wives in cooking especially during festive season. I really pity my MIL who is a very good cook and she does not only cook for her children but my FIL’s siblings will even come to stay to eat her cooking because she could cook as well as her late MIL so my FIL’s siblings miss their mother’s cooking and will request for her to cook this and that like fish maw with bamboo shoot, sea cucumber with pig knuckle, pig stomach with pepper, meatballs etc.
My dad helps a lot with housework so I have higher expectations on how much a man helps out at home.
I guess your MIL has the passion…and everyone loves her cooking and wants to enjoy it whenever they can. I’m sure she likes that. I don’t mind too – cooking for good friends who will appreciate everything a lot. Of course they will also balas by buying things for me…or sometimes asking me to join them for dinner outside, things like that.
Well, there are men who cannot cook – cannot even boil water or cook instant mee. I think my father was like that – just earned money for the family, my mother had to wait on him hand and foot. These days, at least he can boil water, make his own drinks and cook instant noodles and so on.
Whatever it is, shouldn’t you be thinking about this BEFORE tying the knot? If his mother is like that, he may expect you to be like that too…or subconsciously perhaps…and in a marriage, one must always give and take – both man and wife as it takes two hands to clap. You may need to try and learn and he may need to lower his expectations and both can help one another in anything in whichever way one can…
These days – sadly, not only the boys…even the girls cannot cook…and not even instant noodles, some of them (or do anything at all, for that matter). I know many, if not most, of my present students are like that.
my bf cn cook.lol. n i cn cook simple dish laaa,haha
Lucky you… Well, he’s a professional, what do you expect?
Luckily, I have ‘brainwashed’ him before we got married. I told him husbands and wives need to work together to create harmony in the family. I have always told him, “A modern wife will be able to help you in your business and look after (including coaching) your children. If you want somebody who can wait on you hand and foot, we can pay RM800 a month and get a maid.”
We met each other while studying overseas so at least he has learned how to put clothes into washing machine, vacuum and mop the floor etc. One thing he is better than the rest of the men here is that he can singlehandedly babysit our girls including changing diapers, feeding them, bathing them, coaxing them to sleep, washing and sterilising their bottles. After listing all these, I think I can’t complain much considering the environment that he has got used to.
He always says that it is not that he is not doing enough, it is my dad who has done too much. Ha! ha!
That is VERY true…like many/most parents today. They only want their children to study and get good grades and sadly, they neglect EVERYTHING else…and the worse thing the children do not know anything beyond their books and not in the exam and even that, give them a month or two, they would have forgotten everything…and they are not capable of independent learning…or independence in anything else. Throw them out into the world and I wonder how they can survive. You are lucky to have a good hubby…and at least you want a maid. My missus has this thing about maids and how I have to suffer too over the years. In her case, that is her choice and too bad, all that spells WORK would involve me too. SIGH!!!
EH never eat prawn cook like that, the black thingy at head have to remove? what the black ah, obviously rarely clean n cook prawn. haha, u only cook half of that right. another half cook other style la.
waa turn into recipe blog ka i like
Dunno…looks like something in the inside of a fish like a gallbladder and if broken, the black stuff that comes out can be very messy – kanasai! I cooked 10…andthe remaining 5, I cooked soup yesterday. Just boiled in water with a few cloves of garlic and then added cabbage (torn not cut – followed what you people said) and a bit of salt. Very nice – one pot full all habis…just the two of us!
oh i usually add egg if cook soup one, never try add veggie, but oh well cnt cook much coz 3 out of 6 family member allergic prawn la, if cook kena bom becoz torturing those who cnt eat leh
I actually wanted to cook cabbage soup…but instead of pork bones, I decided to use the leftover prawns. Much nicer and sweeter, of course! The prawns so sweet, no need for msg anymore…
I love prawns…In fact, I love seafoods!
Mum used to fried with garlic + shallots + garlic + cilli padi (chopped finely), then pour soy sauce over. Delicious !
Something like the way my missus would cook it with sesame oil…but she does not add soy sauce, just salt. Very nice also…
Before CNY, i was craving so much for prawns. On the eve, brought FIL to wet market and saw lots of big prawns. Bought 1/2kg (about 8pcs) which cost RM60 plus….tskk…tskk…luckily FIL’s face didnt turn into black..LOL!!!
RM60??? *pengsan!!! And I thought what I bought for RM30 was expensive and I’ve made up my mind not to buy again for a long time…
YUMMY!!! I love prawns, but of course those big ones
Midin!!! I love it to cook with foochow red wine. slurp slurp.
LOL!!! Can you get these there – what we call “chia chui or tua-thow hay”? How much a kg? I’m sure they cost a lot more than here…if you can get them that is.
yummmmm…..not so healthy also wallop la. Will die sooner or later also. Might as well not be a hungry ghost.
Gosh…these two dish really yummy…..
Yup! When it’s time, it’s time…never mind what you eat or don’t eat!
AGREE 100% with Kat. Mahal ah? Nvm la… once a while nvm makan… if wanna baham a few plates of prawn for a reasonable price, go steamboat buffet lo… RM20++ can makan lotsa prawns and crabs.
Amacam, Kat? Wan anot? See when we go baham 4-5plates of prawns again when everyone free.
Hahahahaha!!! Somebody tak tahan already…can’t wait to go out for prawns and crabs. Yum! Yum! LOL!!!
You sure can cook, Arthur. Prawns look good and the midin, heavenly! I don’t like prawns and have never liked them but I do cook it quite often and when we eat out, we would usually order a prawn dish too. Hubby likes them and life is too short to worry about cholestrol and what not. Everything in moderation. I have never tasted midin and would love to try it one day.
Do plan to come over to Sibu – would love to have you all here…free lodging, transport, tours…and FOOD!!! Then you can get to try midin among many other things you have never tried before. And hubby can get to eat all the prawns he wants. LOL!!! How does that sound? Tempting?
I can cook…but being basically very lazy, I would usually stick to the most simple dishes – also nice. 
Those freshwater prawns will taste delicious in Sang Har Meen. BTW, any suggestions of places to eat in KK? We’re heading there for a wedding in Sept and would appreciate your advice. Thanks in advance.
Try Caroline’s blog – she’s from KK…or Wenn’s. Wenn just went there recently…
Yum! I have tried cooking them ‘rebus’ way as well copied from your blog. I love it but not hubby though. I think this method the soya sauce ones, he will like, so will give a try next! But quite hard to get this prawns and only in certain shops can find them….expensive too and imported from Msia…
You mean the one with belacan and ikan pusu? He 100% sinah puchau mah! LOL!!! I’m sure he will like prawns cooked this way – more to Foochow style. I guess you can use tiger prawns instead or other types like “pek hay” that are big enough.
Arrrr, these look delicous….must hunt for some prawns tomorrow!
Not going to catch your own kah? LOL!!!
I love prawns! The bigger the better!! The ones that you cooked look delicious! So now you know what to cook for me when I come to visit you lah! *hint*hint*
Got the hint! So when are you coming to visit me? I think cheap airline is having a sale right now…
Seriously, the prawns in your picture looks awesome and I bet it tasted just as good.
They sure do! With those prawns, one really can’t go wrong… Yum! Yum!
Gosh! They are big! But I prefer to steam them to retain the natural sweetness of the prawns.
I’m not into steaming prawns…though I may do that sometimes with the cheaper “seawater white prawns” but they must be very very fresh so as to be succulent and sweet. Otherwise, will not be nice…
Yes, you are right!…quite dry and no sauce…and taste sweet and sour. Love it!…
There is also a similar version of that – use masak hitam ingredients but keep it dry, no gravy. Nice!
Ehhh? how did i miss out this post? Omg, I must be getting old.
Prawns, When I was young, I had a really big phobia due to a horrid babysitter who fed me bad prawns with me ending up in the hospital. But nowadays I have gotten over it, I love prawns, especially those big ones! Expensive yes, but yummy! Just make sure its fresh.
You missed this one? Aiyor…sampai hati!! How could you?
Hah! After so long, the pain and suffering already forgotten…so simply eat again lah? Some people never learn… LOL!!!