I still remember…

…that my mum used to cook those giant udang galah or chia-chui hay (freshwater prawns) this way…

We also call them tua-thow hay or big-headed prawns as if you buy the big ones, the heads are really huge. I would avoid buying those as the bodies are relatively small so we may not get very much to eat in the end. Of course if you can get the good ones, there may be that rich, thick and gooey orange-coloured stuff in the head that is very much coveted by all but there is no guarantee that you will get that in each and every one of the prawns plus they do not come cheap – at least, RM50 a kg…or more if they are not in season.

I managed to buy these small ones at the market one morning for RM30.00 a kg and I decided to cook them in that same way my mum did. I am not sure whether this is the Foochow way of cooking them or not but like all Foochow dishes, it is very basic and very simple…and yet tastes really great. All you need would be some slices of ginger and soy sauce and a bit of sugar to counter the salty taste of the sauce. I added a bit of sliced chili…

…and since I had some kicap manis ( sweet soy sauce), I decided to use that instead of the regular soy sauce and sugar.

First, I fried the ginger slices in a little bit of oil and once the fragrance had come out, I threw in the chili…

…and the prawns…

…and I kept on frying till they were cooked…

– they would have all turned red by then, of course.

Having done that, I added some water and the soy sauce, enough to make the gravy look dark, around two or three tablespoons of it…

I tasted a bit of it and OH NO!!!!! To my horror, I found it to be so very sweet. No…no…it was not supposed to be like that. I quickly added a bit of our regular soy sauce, maybe around one tablespoon of it, and when I tried it again, it  was just perfect – exactly like how my mum cooked it before. I certainly would advise anyone who would like to cook this dish to stick to what has been tried and tested and not to use the kicap manis in place of the regular soy sauce and sugar.

Once done, I dished everything out and served…

Of course, you may add some extra ingredients if you wish, like say, a dash of the traditional Foochow red wine…or a stalk of serai (lemon grass) or some sliced Bombay onions but I wanted to follow strictly to how my mum cooked the prawns way back then during my growing-up years – so simple, so easy and yet so delicious. I still remember how we loved eating this so very much. I still do!