Butter-Fried Prawns

Ingredients

• 300 g fresh prawns
• 7 g butter
• 15 ml black peppercorns
• 45 ml cooking oil
• 10 ml soy sauce
• 5 ml rice wine
• 10 ml white sugar
• 2.5 ml salt

Method

Devein the prawns by splitting the back shell lengthwise with scissors or a small knife, then pull out the dark intestinal tract under cold running water. Pat them completely dry — any moisture will steam rather than fry, and you need the surface dry enough to brown. Leave the shells on; they protect the delicate flesh and add flavour to the butter sauce.

Toast the black peppercorns in a dry pan for 90 seconds until fragrant, then grind them coarsely. Mix the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and salt in a small bowl — this becomes your butter-sauce base. Have everything measured and ready before the pan hits the heat.

Heat your largest pan-frying pan over medium-high until a drop of water skitters across the surface and evaporates in under two seconds. Add the cooking oil and wait 30 seconds for it to shimmer. The oil temperature matters here: too cool and the prawns will stew in their own moisture; too hot and the shells char before the flesh cooks through. Add the prawns in a single layer and resist moving them for 90 seconds — this initial rest develops colour on the underside. Toss once, then grind the peppercorns over them as they cook. You're aiming for a pale coral exterior, which signals the proteins are set but still tender.

The moment the prawns firm up and lose their translucency — roughly two minutes total — add the butter and let it foam. The fat carries flavour compounds that oil cannot, and the emulsification between butter and the prawn's natural juices thickens the coating. Pour in your soy mixture and turn the heat to high. The stir-frying motion here isn't vigorous tossing — it's purposeful, deliberate turning to coat each prawn evenly in the collapsing sauce. You're reducing the liquid by half, which concentrates the salt and umami whilst the butter binds everything into a glaze. This takes 45 seconds, maybe 90. Stop the moment the sauce coats the prawns in a glossy film rather than pooling at the pan's base.

Plate immediately. The residual heat will continue cooking the shellfish slightly, so there's no benefit to letting it sit.