Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns Shrimp

The sauce tastes like a homemade Chilli Jam except it’s far easier to make. 15 minutes, start to finish!

Quick prawn recipe with BIG flavours!

While I love a classic Chinese-style prawn stir fry with its clean and steady flavours, or the heart-stopping (in more ways than one) fried and sweet deliciousness of Honey Prawns, sometimes I find myself looking for a punch in the face (flavour-wise, that is!) This prawn recipe came to be after I had a terrific Stir Fried Prawns in Chilli Jam at a modern(ish) Thai Restaurant. While I can’t replicate desserts at home on a whim, I usually have a fair chance of getting pretty close with savoury dishes. I was going to try to replicate it using a homemade Chilli Jam recipe, but then I got lazy. Instead, I tried to achieve the same flavours using a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a dash of this and a splash of that. And well, well, well, what do you know? It came out darn delicious. Really, really tasty and pretty close to making this with a homemade Chilli Jam, but just a whole lot easier and faster. 🙂 The sauce is essentially a quick and easy Chilli Jam – and it’s lip smackingly delish! I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say that this really does taste like Spicy Stir Fries you get from modern Asian restaurants. I don’t claim this to be authentic Asian because it probably isn’t an authentic Asian stir fry but every ingredient in the sauce is certainly used in many Asian dishes!

A 12 minute recipe

There’s nothing more disappointing that shoving a big, plump, juicy-looking prawn in your mouth only to find it’s rubbery and dry. So in my world, every prawn recipe has to be a quick recipe because otherwise you’ll overcook the prawn! And these Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns certainly fit the bill. Here’s how it goes down:

Chop / grate the ginger and garlic, measure out the sauce ingredients – 5 minutesSear prawns in 2 batches – 4 minutesSimmer sauce until syrupy – 2 minutesToss prawns back in – 1 minuteTotal time – 12 minutes 🙌🏻

TIP: get the rice started first, because that takes longer than this recipe!

Frozen prawns – all the way!

For the first couple of years when I started this website, I was a total prawn snob and urged everyone to peel their own prawns, declaring that frozen was just not the same. This conclusion was drawn from many years of mediocre frozen prawn experiences in my youth. It’s been a very pleasant discovery to find that frozen prawns have come a long way in their time! Sure, some are better than others, but even the budget ones (eg Aldi, Costco) are still very good. I still peel fresh prawns for company. But for everyday purposes, I’m all about frozen prawns nowadays – and I totally own it!

What to serve on the side

Serve with rice to soak up that glorious sauce. Or for a healthy low carb option try Cauliflower Rice – 77% fewer calories and 87% less carbs than rice! Add some greens to your meal – here are a few suggestions:

Cucumber chunks tossed with Asian Sesame Dressing sprinkled with coriander/cilantro (pictured)Asian Sesame Dressing drizzled ove leafy greens, tomato wedges or cherry tomatoesAsian Slaw – terrifically fresh and crunchy!Restaurant Style Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce – or use any steamed Asian greens, green beans or snow peasSmashed Cucumber Salad

Enjoy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand! Originally published July 2016. Rewritten in May 2019, new photos, brand new video, and new Life of Dozer photos!

Life of Dozer

Another snap from the Mother’s Day weekend away to Rick Stein’s Bannisters Hotel in Port Stephens. Contemplating the meaning of life as he gazes at the sun rise over the infinity pool…. OK, we all know that’s not true. He’s more likely wondering how much trouble he’d get in if he dove in. I don’t think the other hotel guests would appreciate swimming in a sea of Dozer’s golden fur! 😂 And from the original publish date in 2016: The vet said to figure out a way to stop him from licking his injured paw. So I did. 😉