Salt and Sichuan pepper prawns recipe
METHOD
1 Butterfly the prawns by cutting through the shells down the backs, running your knife through the meat to open them out. Stop slicing just before the tail to keep it intact. Scrape out the black digestive cord, then place the butterflied prawns in a mixing bowl and wash well in cold water. Score horizontally across the prawn meat four to five times so that they open up nicely while cooking, then dust them with the cornflour.
2 For the spice mix, toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry pan, swirling them around on a medium heat for one to two minutes until they pop and become fragrant. Add the salt to the pan, then transfer to a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, add the white pepper and sugar and pound or grind to a powder.
3 Heat two to three tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and bring to a high heat. Place the prawns meat-side down in the pan and fry for three to four minutes, until they start to turn pink. Turn and cook the prawns until pink all over, then remove from the pan.
4 Build your ‘wok clock’ (i.e. arrange your prepared ingredients on a plate before you cook, in the order you need them): Start at 12 o’clock with the garlic, then the ginger, red chilli and spring onions, the spice mix and lastly the fried prawns.
5 Heat one to two tablespoons of oil in your wok over a medium heat. Add the garlic, moving it constantly until it starts to brown and separates a little – about 30 seconds. Then add the ginger, chilli and spring onions. Throw in the spice mix and immediately add the cooked prawns to the wok. Toss through five to six times in the wok to fully coat the prawns before serving.