PRAWNS IN LONGJING TEA

Prawns in Longjing tea image

Complement prawns with the sweet and slightly bitter flavour of Longjing tea to bring out their natural sweetness - serve with jasmine rice as part of a Chinese feast

Provided by Ching-He Huang

Categories Dinner

Time 14m

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

1 egg white
50g potato flour or cornflour
ground white pepper, to taste
8 large tiger prawns, shells off, deveined, rinsed and drained
groundnut oil, for frying
1 tbsp Longjing tea leaves (also known as 'Dragon Well' tea)
1 tbsp groundnut oil
2 spring onions, whites only, sliced
1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp cornflour mixed with 2 tsp cold water

Steps:

Put the egg white in a bowl with the potato or cornflour. Whisk together to a fine batter. Season with sea salt and ground white pepper and mix. Add the prawns and coat well.
Heat a wok or saucepan just less than half-full with groundnut oil, heat to 180C checking with a cooking thermometer. Lower the prawns into the oil using a spider strainer and fry for less than 10 seconds. Scoop out and drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Boil the kettle, place 1 tbsp Longjing tea in a bowl and pour over 150ml hot water. Let it steep for 2 mins.
Add 1 tbsp oil to another wok or deep frying pan and put over a high heat until the oil is slight smoking. Add the prawns and 50ml of the tea, followed by the spring onions, shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, add a few tea leaf pieces and season with salt and ground white pepper, then stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken. Add a little more tea or water if you need to. Take off the heat and serve immediately with cooked jasmine rice and other Chinese dishes.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 292 calories, Fat 16 grams fat, SaturatedFat 3 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 22 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 1 grams sugar, Fiber 2 grams fiber, Protein 14 grams protein, Sodium 1.6 milligram of sodium