Guoba prawns - Shrimps with Rice/Barley Crisp, and a special sauce

Rice - a staple that gets a very special treatment such that you get a culinary chorus of "crackling, crackle and pop" in the resultant dish. It's called 锅巴 (pronounced Guoba, in Mandarin) and refers to crispy bits of rice that stick to the bottom of the rice pot. These crispy bits of rice are dished on a plate, and goes sizzling in a chorus when rich, robust sauces of seafood, meat or vegetables, are topped over them. Perhaps the "sizzling effect" is just a novelty for some. It like adding a third sound dimension to food; after sight and taste.

Anyhow, my dish here has got to do with crispy bits of something. However, the sauce is the star here. Waiter, there's something in my...sauce that made these Guoba Prawns. The barley crisps-cracker was an intentional substitute since I knew I was never going to get lucky that day to have "burnt crispy rice patch" at the bottom of my rice cooker. :D


Shrimps with Crispy Rice/Barley Bits, or Guoba prawns/shrimps, or (serve 2)

Ingredients:
-12 medium-sized prawns/shrimps, cleaned and peeled
-1tbsp cornflour
-1 egg, whisked
- some rice or barley crisp-cracker (store-bought)

Sauce:
-2tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup
-dashes of Worcestershire
-1tsp black vinegar
-1-2tsp citron honey
-3tbsp water, adjust accordingly
-few slices of ginger, julienned to thin strips
-spring onions, julienned to thin strips, by the bias

Method (making the shrimps) :
1. Dab the shrimps dry with a kitchen paper towel
2. Dip the shrimps in the egg mixture, then coat lightly with flour and deep-fry till golden brown. Set aside or place on top of crackers.

Method (making the sauce) :
3. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients (except ginger and spring onions/scallions) in a bowl and set aside.
4. Heat oil in a shallow saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and stir-fry for 1min, till fragrant. Add the sauce mixture and bring to boil.
5. Check for the sauce consistency. If not thick enough, add some cornflour to thicken.
6. Simmer the sauce for a few seconds and remove from the heat. Stir in the scallions.
7. Assembly ingredients
8. Pour the sweet and tangy sauce over the shrimp+ crispy cracker assembly. Serve immediately

Crispy shrimps with drizzles of sweet and sour sauce, who could resist that ?


Even the cracker gets drizzles of sauce, and "sizzles" in my heart


Oh, did you hear it? I could not :( ...but the cracker "tainted" with the sauce was equally good!

Do you prefer this to drunken prawns ?

Tag: prawns, shrimps, guoba prawns, rice crisp , seafood