Singapore-style Black Pepper Prawns

Black Pepper Prawns

Since that boy turned 13 a few days ago, I've had a spate of bad luck. They really followed one another, from the wasp sting to news that my new Lancia Phedra will only arrive next month (4 months' wait!) to Baby Girl not feeling well to dad's good friend dying (quite young), and this morning, we received yet another expensive bill for our flat in Paris. I finally washed all the bedsheets seeing that the sun was shining so brightly, but of course the minute I took out the wash to hang, the sun disappeared and it started to rain, with thunder, lighting, blackouts, wind and all. After I told the cleaning lady to vacuum all the carpets, the vacuum cleaner stopped working. I started emailing my sister to whinge about this and the computer shut down with the blackout. How's that?

Maggi Assam Laksa Noodles

I needed something to boost my morale and of course I turned to food. To start with, to earn back some better luck, I made lunch for the cleaning lady. Nothing fancy, just some of my favourite Maggi Assam Laksa Noodles. She loves instant noodles and I wanted her to try a few of my favourite ones. By the way, ever since I've read warnings about how bad the wax coating most instant noodles is and how boiling the soup mix could be bad for health, I now cook the noodles at the same time as I boil a kettle of water for the soup mix. Cook everything separately and eat them together. And for a few weeks now I even throw away the oil that comes with the dry noodles. Dunno what kind of fat they use.

Chicken with Ginger

This evening I made my children's favourite Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry and a rich plate of Black Pepper Prawns (no crabs) Singapore-style for me. Recently there was some polemic about the Malaysian Tourism Minister wanting to patent what she claimed to be Malaysian dishes so that nobody else could lay claim to them. I'm sorry for the Malaysian tax payers that they had to pay this joker's salary because not only was she proving herself to be insipid and lacking real ideas for her portfolio, but at the same time she could provoke a few diplomatic incidents with all of Malaysia's neighbours (if they decide to take her seriously, of course). She may even find fewer tourists as a result.

Countries in our region share similar migration histories. Most of us have relatives in the neighbouring countries. We have seen the creation of similar local cuisines. Laksa for example, is everywhere and yet is different in each place. Char Kway Teok in Penang is not the same as Char Kway Teow in Singapore. Neither is the Chee Cheong Fun. But within Singapore, Indonesia or Malaysia itself, dishes of the same name may not necessarily taste the same. Every hawker has come out with his own rendering of each dish. Humble me may not even cook the same dish the same way each time. Each time I may forget something or may decide to try a new ingredient or use another method. What's the fuss.

So just to irritate people like her, I insist that my Black Pepper Prawns are made Singapore-style. The way I've eaten them at certain places in my country.

Kept the heads for the flavour

Black Pepper Prawns :

500g Prawns (shell on or peeled)

1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce

1 Tsp Kecap Manis

1 Tbsp Dry Sherry/Chinese Cooking Wine

1 Tsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Thai Chilli

Ginger

Garlic

6-10 Curry Leaves

Heat up the wok and dry roast black pepper. Remove and set aside.

Mix all the sauces and sugar together.

Melt butter in wok, fry ginger, chilli, garlic and curry leaves till fragrant.

Add in the prawns. When they start to curl, add in the black pepper.

Stir well and finally add in the sauce and coat the prawns well in it.

Serve hot on steamed Jasmine rice.