These are…
…teng khak hay, translation: hard shell prawns. I see them all the time at my favourite fish and seafood stall not far from my house but I never bought any. Usually they are cheaper than the pek hay (white prawns)…
…the seawater variety that I will always buy but I get put off by the stronger smell and because of the very hard shell, they are difficult to devein.
We had those very fresh ones in the above photograph when we went out for dinner with my good friend/ex-classmate, Robert and yes, they were very nice plus they were huge too! Usually, they are very small, not worth a second glance.
Well, it so happened that my missus wanted to buy some lettuce – they did not have those very curly ones…
…at the shops and stalls in the next lane and I did tell her before that they sell those hydroponic ones at the shop behind that fish & seafood stall that I frequent.
She never ventured into that part of the woods before but she managed to get there and she got what she wanted. I was not in the least surprised that she strolled over to the stall…
…to have a look and ended up buying a few kilos of these teng khak prawns at RM18.00 a kilo.
She cooked half, hip eyam (covered with salt) like what we had at the dinner above and even though they were not as big, they were very fresh and we did enjoy them a lot.
She cooked the other half, the bigger ones, with pineapples…
…the other day and it was really very good.
Usually, she would cook this dish using the freshwater udang galah…
…but since we’ve been avoiding the central market in town all this while throughout the pandemic, we have not bought any for almost two years now.
Much to our delight, it was very compatible with these teng khak hay…
I sure enjoyed it a lot that day! I certainly would want to buy more should I happen to see any more big and fresh ones at the stall.
Incidentally, our rambutan tree at the back of our house is bearing fruit…
I have neglected it for so long now and last year, because of the excessive trimming when I was plucking the fruits the last time around, it did not bear any. I did see a few not long ago, very very few way up high and I just assumed that there would not be many this year.
Much to my surprise, my missus went and plucked and got quite a lot…
…enough for her to enjoy herself and also to give to our neighbours. Personally, I am not into those – I just had two or three that day and I ended up coughing the whole night through. Old folks say they are heaty (ching juak).
There are some more up in the tree – there should be enough for another harvest. After that, I must do something to enhance its growth, add new soil and fertilisers perhaps. We’ll see!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Look at those Rambutan’s! Nice! I’ve only had them once. They are hard to find here!
I guess they’re tropical. I’ve seen family and friends sharing photos of the ones they were selling in Australia, all black and withered. They probably imported them from here. It’s a wonder that there were people who would still want to buy.
You may be able to find those canned ones – if I am not mistaken, we do have those here along with the canned longans and lychees from China.
Your missus is really very good in cooking! The prawns do look so succulent, and when you mentioned pineapple, I wanted so salivate… fish, prawns, meat… with pineapple goes very well… Sedap!!
Sounds like you’re missing home a lot? LOL!!! I am sure they have pineapples there – a lot in Hawaii. You went there the other day, didn’t you?
There are those canned ones too – when we do not have any fresh ones in the house for our cooking, we will use those. Nice too, just a but too sweet, soaked in syrup.
I did see this hard shell prawns in the market but I never buy them. The prawns cooked with pineapple looks so good and I am sure I will enjoy as much as you do. I am not into rambutans but I am a great fan of durians.. 😊
We never bought these prawns before either but my missus said that she grew up eating these in her family for the simple reason that they were much cheaper.
I’m not into both fruits – my missus loves rambutans so she will eat a lot herself and give the rest to our neighbours. She likes durians but no, she will not go out to buy – will eat when there’s any. She will only buy the wild yellow/orange ones, the pakon. She likes those a lot more.
Nice, can enjoy own rambutan.
I like prawns, especially white prawns. But hard work to clean and devein them.
No choice! We do it ourselves all the time. Sometimes, the seller may remove the heads and shell and sell at the same price but for 600 gms. only but she does not devein them. That is the tedious part. I’d rather do it all by myself.
My missus enjoys the rambutans. I ate 3 and coughed the whole night through. Sighhh!!!
Same with me. Cannot take too much those hearty fruits. Will cough and have dry throat. Sigh.
For me, worse. If too sweet, bad for my low-sugar diet some more. Serba salah!!!
Your missus cook delicious dishes with the prawns. Anything with pineapple is delicious. Great to have rambutans from your garden. I can eat lots of rambutan. I usually removed the skin and chilled the rambutans before I enjoy them.
Yes, that is what my missus does. The skin will wither and the fruit will spoil. Stored this way, the fruits will last a long time.
I love freshwater prawns with pineapples but this variety turned out very good too. Must buy again sometime.
beautiful rambutan! Also, for prawns, any method of cooking is great in my eyes!
I guess I can’t disagree with that. Like I always say, can’t go wrong with prawns.
Udang galah, we call it “big head prawn” in my little kampung.
We like Cantonese “si zap” black beans style.
Not very often we cook it in curry sauce.
We used to have two rambutan trees in our backyard. But they were too tall, couldn’t pick those high up the top.
Our neighbour had a dwarf rambutan tree, picking was so much easier.
>I did not know German cookies till I went to New Zealand.
It must be a Kiwi thing then cos we don’t have German cookies here either.
I had German bread before though. It was really tough, didn’t like it.
That was not curry – that was masak kunyit, cooked with turmeric.
I do not recall ever cooking prawns in curry, fish, yes…but prawns usually with kunyit or tom yam. They have very nice ones with wild belimbing at Payung Cafe here.
Yes, we also call udang galah big head prawns…or freshwater prawns, one and the same thing.
It’s good to have your very own rambutan tree. 🙂 Wouldn’t it attract ants?
You can spray pesticides if that bothers you so much. So far, they do not seem to bother me all that much. We have managed very well for so long now without the use of those poisons!!!
I just ate some bad seafood in Penang and was sick for days. I can’t stand the thought of it at the moment. Hope that memory fades fast.
That is terrible!!! Happened to me once, must be the oysters from the oyster omelette at Newton Circus in Singapore. In and out of the toilet all night long – by morning, I was already half dead!
I love rambutans!
My missus too, not me! I can’t eat, just a couple would get me coughing myself inside out. So sad.