Jeremy Pang’s seafood starter

The chef and founder of School of Wok shares a Chinese classic

I once spent a day in Hong Kong watching six chefs from around the world battle it out to win the Young Chinese Chef of the Year award. The speed with which one of the chefs butterflied, deveined and cleaned his prawns with just one swift movement of his cleaver left my mouth wide open. The dish he made, however, is simple. Give it a try!

Salt & Sichuan pepper prawns

SERVES 2 PREP 20 mins COOK 11 mins EASY

300g tiger prawns, shells and heads left on

2 tbsp corn lour vegetable oil, for frying

6 8 garlic cloves, inely chopped

1/2 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and inely chopped

1 large red chilli, inely chopped

1 2 spring onions, inely chopped

For the spice mix

1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 Butterfly the prawns by cutting down the backs through the shells, then opening them out. Stop slicing just before the tail to keep the prawns intact. Scrape out the black seam, then wash the prawns well in cold water. Score horizontally across each prawn 4-5 times, then dust with the cornflour.

2 For the spice mix, toast the peppercorns in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, stirring for 1-2 mins until popping and fragrant. Add 1 tsp salt, then transfer to a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, add the white pepper and a pinch of sugar, and grind to a powder.

3 Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Put the prawns flesh-side down in the pan and fry for 3-4 mins until they start to turn pink. Turn and cook until pink all over, then remove from the pan.

4 Heat another 1-2 tbsp oil in the wok over a medium heat. Add the garlic, stirring until it starts to brown, about 30 seconds. Add the ginger, chilli and spring onions, then add the spice mix followed immediately by the prawns. Toss everything throughly five or six times to coat the prawns, then serve.

GOOD TO KNOW gluten free

PER SERVING (2) 313 kcals • fat 22g • saturates 2g • carbs 16g • sugars 1g • ibre 2g • protein 10g • salt 3.3g

Jeremy Pang features in the BBC Good Food Rookie Chef Podcast. Find this and more at bbcgoodfood.com/bbc-goodfood-rookie-chef-podcast

Recipe adapted from Jeremy Pang’s School of Wok: Delicious Asian Food In Minutes (£20, Hamlyn). Photographs by Kris Kirkham. This recipe is supplied by the publisher and not retested by us.