Another year means another dish for Richmond resident, actor and chef Colin Foo to make to celebrate Lunar New Year.
This year, Foo is sharing his spicy tiger prawns with pineapple recipe, a dish that can be served as an entrée on its own.
“I thought this year I will have a very simple and easy to follow recipe for the Year of the Tiger,” said Foo.
“I’ve had many readers come to me saying they love the Chinese New Year recipes, but remark there are either too many ingredients or instructions to follow.”
And simplicity is what Foo kept in mind with his seven-ingredient prawn recipe.
This year’s dish is filled with colours of red and yellow. According to Foo, red is a very lucky colour and is represented by the red sauce and prawns for not only Lunar New Year, but for all year round. The pineapple in the dish represents the colour gold, which is symbolic for prosperity and wealth.
“The combination of the two colours for this particular dish together with the tiger (prawns) just shouts good luck, health and prosperity.”
Ingredients
¾ pound peeled tiger prawns with the black veins removed
½ cup of tomato ketchup
1 levelled tsp. of tapioca or corn starch
1 tbsp. of soya sauce
1 tsp. of hot chilli sauce or Tabasco sauce (less to taste)
1 levelled tsp. of salt
2-3 tbsp. of cooking oil
1 cup of cube canned or fresh pineapple, drained
Method:
Mix the tiger prawns, ketchup, corn starch, soya sauce, chilli sauce, salt and cooking oil in a bowl and set aside in the fridge to marinate over night.
The next day, heat a cooking wok, or pot, on medium heat for a couple of minutes, and add the refrigerated ingredients to the wok and stir fry the mixture until the sauce bubbles.
Cover the wok until the prawns turn bright red, which is when they are cooked.
Add and fry the pineapple in the same wok and cover again until the edges turn slightly brown. Make sure to occasionally stir everything to prevent it from burning.
Plate the dish and garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley and serve with steamed rice.
