Growing up, I’d watch my mom add salted eggs to Century Egg Porridge. Sometimes she would add them to steamed egg custard. Other times, we would eat the salted egg with plain white porridge. YUM.
It was only in recent years that I have seen them used to cook seafood. The first time I had Salted Egg Crabs in a restaurant, I thought, DOUBLE YUM! And I wondered how that was cooked. The crabs were coated with this luscious sauce made with salted egg and something else, and it was simply divine! Naturally, I had to find out how to cook this so I could cook it at home. Yes, partly that was due to me being a must-know-as-much-as-I-can-homecook and partly because I am an al-cheapo auntie.
When I learnt how this dish was cooked, I was gob-smacked by how SIMPLE it was. Seriously, seriously simple. So today, I am sharing a recipe for Salted Egg Yolk Prawns.
Why prawns, you may ask.
Well, the answer is really simple (Gosh, how many times have I said that already!). I ordered some Ang Kah Prawns (a.k.a. Indian White Prawns) from PurelyFresh Online Grocery Store and they were so fresh and so juicy, I knew I had to use them to cook something special.
And this is definitely a special dish.
I am a fuss-pot when it comes to seafood. Growing up in a Teochew family, we ate only the freshest seafood. One of my Dad’s favorite ways to cook fish is just to steam them. Without any condiments – no ginger, no anything. After the fish had been steamed, we’d dip the fish in Taucheo (Soybean Paste) and I tell you, that was so freaking delicious! It also meant that one could definitely taste if the fish was fresh. Hence my aversion to most frozen seafood.
Anyway, I digress. So, as you can probably guess, when I cook seafood, I will demand to use only the freshest seafood I can find. That means the wet market.
But let’s face it. With my (very) crazy schedule, I will probably end up not cooking any seafood if I had to go to the wet market each time I want to cook fish, or prawns or crabs. This is where I will forever be grateful to PurelyFresh. PurelyFresh owns and operates wet markets in Singapore and this means that all the fresh produce purchased from them are sourced from the wet market.
This translates to super fresh produce. In fact, to date, I have not received any frozen produce from them. Everything I had ordered was packed and delivered to me chilled. Amazing!
So without further ado, let me show you how to cook this oh-so-sinfully-delicious dish.
Start by steaming the salted egg yolks. I used 5 yolks in this recipe because I like the creaminess they impart to the sauce, but you can always adjust the number of yolks, depending on how creamy you like the sauce.
Once steamed, mash the yolks with a fork and set this aside.
Peel and devein the prawns. Pat them with some paper towels to remove excess moisture. You do not need to be too obsessive about this – just remove most of the liquid at the bottom of the bowl.
Season the prawns with salt and white pepper.
Dip the prawns in the beaten egg yolk then lightly dredge them in cornflour.
Shake off excess flour and fry the prawns for about 20 seconds. I fried the prawns in batches so as not to over cook them. Place the prawns on kitchen towels to drain. Set this aside.
In a skillet, saute mince garlic in a little vegetable oil and butter for 30 seconds.
Add curry leaves and cook another 30 seconds.
Add the mashed salted egg yolk and stir this over medium heat.
You will need to stir constantly because the sauce will bubble and pop. As you stir, the sauce becomes more creamy.
Add the prawns to the sauce. Season with salt and white pepper and toss the prawns in the sauce until well-coated.
Remove from the heat and serve the prawns immediately, with rice!
This is not a dish you should eat regularly but it is something you can definitely savor when you do eat it.
And you know, when the entire dish comes up to less than $20, you have more than one reason to cook this at home for your loved ones!
Click on the link to view my available cooking and baking workshops!
- 10-12 large prawns
- 5 salted egg yolks
- 4 stalks curry leaves, stem removed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 20g butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil - I used canola oil
- salt, to taste
- white pepper, to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 egg yolks, beaten
- 6 tablespoons corn flour
- Steam the salted egg yolks for about 20 minutes. Once steamed, mash the yolks with a fork and set this aside.
- Peel and devein the prawns. Pat them with some paper towels to remove excess moisture. You do not need to be too obsessive about this – just remove most of the liquid at the bottom of the bowl.
- Season the prawns with salt and white pepper.
- Dip the prawns in the beaten egg yolk then lightly dredge them in cornflour.
- Shake off excess flour and fry the prawns for about 20 seconds. I fried the prawns in batches so as not to over cook them. Place the prawns on kitchen towels to drain. Set this aside.
- In a skillet, saute mince garlic in a little vegetable oil and butter for 30 seconds.
- Add curry leaves and cook another 30 seconds.
- Add the mashed salted egg yolk and stir this over medium heat. You will need to stir constantly because the sauce will bubble and pop. As you stir, the sauce becomes more creamy.
- Add the prawns to the sauce. Season with salt and white pepper and toss the prawns in the sauce until well-coated.
- Remove from the heat and serve the prawns immediately, with rice!
- I used 5 salted egg yolks in this recipe because I like the creaminess they impart to the sauce, but you can always adjust the number of yolks, depending on how creamy you like the sauce.
Instead of frying the prawns in oil, will I be able to use the airfryer? If yes, for how long and what temp? Thanks!!
Hi Pauline I guess you can – I have no idea at what temperature/ timing though.
Hi Diana
Thank u for this well-loved recipe. just chanced upon it n so timely for CNY meals!
You are most welcome Grace!
Thanks for receipe. Looking forward to trying it but can I ask what happen to the egg white ? Do we steam it together ? Thank you.
Hi Rosalind, no only the yolks. I threw away the whites.
Hi, I just tried cooking this and I got a question. When you put in the curry leaves, did the oil splatter a lot and the leaves got burnt quickly? I couldn’t wait 30 secs with the oil splattering and quickly put in the salted egg yolks. I am wondering if it’s because of this that my dish didn’t turn out very fragrant. Thanks!
Hi Joey no there wast much splattering – i dried the leaves. Maybe you can use lower heat? Sounds like your oil was very hot.
thank you for sharing this receipe clearly step by step been share. u’re so generous in sharing
You are welcome Deepa!
Hi. I have never used salted eggs before but have tasted salted egg yolk crab which was divine. I Wonder if you can clarify how you steam the egg yolk: do you steam it unshelled and then discard the whites? Ofr do you crack the egg shell to remove yolks to steam them?
Hi you crack the shell, discard the whites and only steam the yolks!
Hi Diana, I love salted egg yolk crabs and will try out this recipe for prawns. However, I have a question for you regarding the salted eggs. Recently I bought some salted eggs from two places, one was bought loose from an egg supplier and the other from NTUC, packaged in a container of four. All of the eggs save for one were bad. Where do you get your salted eggs from and how to ensure that they are fresh and not bad? It would be irritating to buy some and then discover that they are bad when you want to cook the dish.
Hi Anita
I always buy from a trusted seller at the wet market and I have never had any problems with the salted eggs..
Please give a detailed recipe for making the salted eggs. I would love to try this dish…it sounds delicious.
Here you go > https://www.kawalingpinoy.com/salted-eggs/
Hihi, thanks for sharing this recipe. Can i replace the salted egg yolks with the egg yolks powder instead?
If yes, how much salted egg yolks powder should i use?
Thank you.
Rina
Hi Nana I can’t help you here as I do not use salted yolk powder. I prefer the taste of the real yolk.
Hi Diana,
Can I use tempura flour instead of corn flour? If I use the tempura flour can I skip the the 2 egg yolk for the dipping before frying?
I am not sure but you can always try!! (and let me know after?)
Hi, can we use the whole salted egg without steaming it?
Hi I don’t think so. It will be raw.