Gok Wan's spicy stir-fried prawns with cashew nuts recipe

Want to make a traditional Chinese meal? Go all out with Gok Wan's prawn stir-fry recipe and make a flavoursome fish stock from scratch for a rich base for the sauce

Ingredients

For the stock

• a 4cm piece of fresh ginger, cut in half and roughly bruised
• 2–3 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly bruised
• shells and heads from 8 raw king prawns (prawns used below)

For the stir-fry

• 2 tbsp groundnut oil
• a 2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 spring onions, trimmed, green and white parts separated, whites roughly bruised
• 8 raw king prawns, peeled and de-veined
• 3 sticks of celery, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• salt and ground white pepper
• 1–2tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• 2tsp light soy sauce
• 1–2tsp fish sauce, to taste
• a pinch of sugar
• 100g cashew nuts
• 1 heaped tsp cornflour mixed with a little cold water
• 1tsp sesame oil

Method

1. For the stock, place the ginger, garlic and prawn shells and heads into a wok or saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and gently simmer for up to 1 hour (although 10–15 minutes is fine). Drain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin before using, discarding the spices, shells and heads.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Add the ginger, garlic and spring onions (both green and white parts) and cook for a minute or until the garlic has softened and the ginger is aromatic. Add the prawns and cook for a further minute, then add the celery and ¾ of the chilli.
3. Once the prawns start to turn pink, add 4 tablespoons of stock (the rest of the stock can be used in other recipes) and season with salt and pepper. Add the Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce and fish sauce.