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
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.
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.
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.
Top tip for making Gok Wan’s spicy stir-fried prawns with cashew nuts
Gok says: 'I always wear a pair of rubber gloves when I’m preparing this dish, as I can’t stand the smell of prawns on my hands!'
