As you probably already know, I am a bit of a shrimp fanatic and I am always looking for tasty new ways to enjoy shrimp. I recently came across a really interesting recipe for Singapore chili prawns on Almost Bourdain that sounded so good that it quickly pushed its way to the top of my to try list. Not that it takes much to get me interested in a shrimp dish but the two things that caught my attention with this recipe were the use of the sweet chili sauce and the egg drop. I picked up a bottle of sweet chili sauce a while ago and I really liked it but I have only used it a few times since. I was looking forward to using the sweet chili sauce with shrimp! A while ago, when I made the Chinese hot and sour soup I was introduced to the concept of slowly pouring an egg into a hot liquid while stirring. The egg quickly cooks into little particles that give the liquid an amazing texture in addition to adding some protein to the sauce itself. Speaking of hot and sour, these chili prawns have both hot and sour elements along with sweet elements.
The Singapore chili prawns were really quick and easy to make and they turned out great! The sweet, hot and sour tomato sauce was so tasty and it went really well with the succulent prawns. I liked this dish so much that I have already made it a second time. The first time I served it with some cilantro and lime rice and the second time I served it with some crusty bread to soak up the extra sauce which saved me from having to lick the plate clean. 🙂
Make your own sweet chili sauce with the best sweet chili sauce recipe!
Singapore Chili Prawns
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 1 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
- 1 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon ginger (grated)
- 1/4 cup shallots (chopped)
- 2 birds eye chilis or cayenne or red jalapenos (sliced)
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 1/2 lime (juice)
- 2 teaspoons palm sugar (grated or sugar)
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the garlic, ginger, shallots, and chilies and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the shrimp and saute for a minute on both sides.
- Add the water, tomato sauce, sweet chili sauce, lime juice. sugar and corn starch and bring to a boil.
- Stir the egg into the pan and continue stirring until the egg is cooked.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for trying out my recipe. I am so glad that it turned out well and you enjoyed it. Your picture looks amazing!
Hi Kevin, these prawns are huge! Beautiful.
This looks delicious! Also, just wanted to thank you for having done a guest post about how to make printable recipes. I just found it by chance today and I'm thrilled.
Beautiful photo, as always.
Geez my mouth is watering and it's only breakfast time here in Melbourne…. another fantastic recipe and picture Kevin!
Might even have to have it for dinner tonight – I have some prawns in the freezer!
Exquisite! I'm gonna go check out Ellie's blog! 🙂
My mouth was watering just looking at this picture! These sound amazing!
WOW! It's so nice of you to cook this chilli prawns…Mmmm…yummy! The beautiful colour of the sauce also looks like Singapore Laksa but of course it is a real spicy type.
Kevin,
Just reading some comments – where did you guest post regarding printable recipes? I would love to know how to add that as a feature or you could just email me if you don't mind that is!!
[email protected]
Thanks – Jo
These look delicious!!
Wow, the prawns look huge and the dish looks amazing! What SLR camera do you use? I'm still deciding what Canon SLR I want to invest in. I'm buying Lowel Ego lights so I can pratice on my lighting. It's hard to take great pictures at night!
Wow! We are having a rainy season here so this is perfect!
Looks delicious and the pic is gorgeous!
Yeah!! This is just my kind of dish! Not just a gorgeous dish, but with all my favorite flavors. Especially those huge shrimp! Once again, you have outdone yourself, Kevin.
Perfect dish for a rainy June day in Toronto!
You have a shrimp fan here Kevin. Beautiful dish.
A very tempting dish! Divine looking!
Cheers,
Rosa
This looks great. I love things that use egg drop. Ahem… occasionally when I am sick and there is nothing in the house I take a package of Ichiban, an egg and some green onion…
and well you get the rest 🙂
Wow that looks so divine.
Wish i hadthem for my lunch with palinf white rice so it soakes up allthat sauce.
I adore shrimps! Funny enough, we dont have Singapore Chili Prawns in Singapore!! BUT hey, whatever that is spicy works for me!
Yes you have Chilie prawns in Singapore that’s where I ate them for the first time 20 years ago. Hands down my favourite way to eat prawns. So delicious!!
Wow that looks amazing – I want some of that now!!
Great picture Kevin – as always.
What an absolutely gorgeous dish!
Beautiful! Love the colour and the falvours!
I've been on a shrimp kick this summer and this looks like a terrific option. But the thing I really need to say is that there is no shame in licking the plate clean when the dish turns out to be stupendous. We do it all the time in this house, along with running a finger over the plate and heavy slurping noises.
I'm a shrimp fanatic too, and this looks fantastic!
This sounds *so* good! I always like the simple cooking instructions you give. Gorgeous picture!
This dish looks delicious and very colourful which speaks a thousand words!
wow…it's beautiful! Sounds tasty too!
Another shrimp fanatic here. This is next on list to do:-) GORGEOUS COLOR!
Kevin that looks awesome, love that bright color.
Gorgeous, I love it!
What a gorgeous dish! The prawns look perfect and so flavorful!
Donna: I am using a Canon SXi (450D) and I have been happy with it. I also have a Lowel Ego light and it has been amazing! No more relying on flash or waiting for the sun.
The flavors here look fantastic. I love this type of shrimp dish. Great photo too.
This is an amazing picture of your prawns- they look delicious!
I'm enjoying your blog as you have some yummy food here!
sweet Kevin, I don't eat shrimp, but the look of this made me want to momentarily forget that i don't eat shellfish. this looks fantastic! 🙂
Whoa, does that sound good! Love shrimp just about any way, except deep fried. Now to find some of that sweet chili sauce.
Thanks Kevin and Ellie!
engorgeously delectable!
I picked up some sweet chili sauce a month ago and I have not even opened it yet. Seems like a delicious place to start!
Wow Kevin I really love prawns and with Chili so nice!!!! Gloria
Really nice picture!!! Gloria
MUST MAKE THESE ASAP!!!!
Wow, thanks for this recipe Kevin!!
Oooh yum! As usual, you impress!!! I'm hungry now 🙂
Sues
how did i miss this before — totally my kind of cooking
Yum, my kind of dish, looks great!
Oh my gosh, Kevin. I can not begin to say enough good things about this!
Just look at that rich broth and those shrimp!
My first experience with chili prawns was at a hawker stall in Singapore — the spiciness nearly took my head off, and I was in heaven!
I wonder if the broth tastes at all like a thai hot and sour soup? I'll have to give it a try and find out!
Wow, the photo looks brilliant! I love prawns so much=) I'm glad I stubbled upon your site because this recipe I can actually do! Or at least the ingredients seem simple enough..:P so YAY time for summer holiday cooking~!
Oh my…I know what shrimp dish I'll be making next – it looks FANTASTIC.
Looks good!
this dish is my favourite!! great job,Kev!!
Throw some rice in the cooker and call it dinner time! Shrimp never looked better!
This looks right up my alley. I can just imagine what it tastes like. Yum!
it looks so yummy. Gotta try it sometime soon.
Kevin, I am so impressed with how you've made the leap! Beautiful cooking and photos.
Have been reading your blog for a month now and loving it. Made the Singapore Chili Prawns this evening and enjoyed them immensely. Great flavor and texture. Will do it again soon.
Beautifully done prawns! Just a small suggestion from a Singaporean: Singapore chilli prawns normally does not have that much liquid though, so perhaps could do with a little adjustment. It is moist but the consistency is more like thick gravy; from the photo it almost looks like curry at a glance. But from the list of ingredients listed I am certain the taste was fantastic.
Kudos to you, Kevin! I have always been impresed by the wide range of recipes that you do.
Hi there!
I just cooked Singapore Chilli Prawns this afternoon but did not follow this recipe. Your recipe and mine follows one that's traditionally for a crab dish, but crabs are such a pain to eat!
Nilmandra is right in that, the consistency needs to be thicker and more 'clingy', such that it coats the prawns (rather than runs off it). (I'm from Singapore too)
Perhaps add more corn flour or add less water?
Here's the recipe I used (I'm a first-timer as well and was rather nervous about the egg drop. Haha.):
http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/692507-singapore-chilli-crab-home-recipe-
By the way, after I cooked this, I wiped sauce off my wok with a slice of bread coz it was too good to wash it off!
In Singapore, they sometimes serve Chilli Crab with deep fried mantou buns. Awesome stuff. And sinful as hell.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/3147593528_1f9f80f7ed_o.jpg
Nilmandra & Phoenix: I could definitely go for the thicker more clingy version of the sauce. Thanks for the tips!
The prawns are delicious! I was hoping you can help me out…I had the most amazing spicy asian prawns at a restaurant, they were slightly sweet, spicy with a hint of coconut. I can't seem to duplicate them. Any suggestions?
Holly: That does not sound familiar. I don't suppose that you remember any more details or flavours?
What do you mean by "tomato sauce"? Is it tomato ketchup or a passata type sauce?
Anonymous: The tomato sauce is a ketchup, though a passata type sauce would also work.
My attention was drawn to your post "Singapore Chili Prawns" as I'm from Singapore. Strictly speaking, what you are cooking is sweet and sour prawn (thickened with eggs). Sweet and sour dishes are very popular in South East Asia where you can use chicken, fish, pork or prawn as the main ingredient. If you are cooking Singapore Chili Prawn or Crab, you need to use chili paste, as it gives you a more robust flavor. You may want to try the Prima premix (http://onlinestore.prima.com.sg/onlinestore/details.asp?prid=222) to see whether it's to your liking. It's sure hot and spicy, but that's how it should be.
Wai Fong
This was delicious!! Even my 13 year old liked it. Win! Win! Win!!
Thanks, Kevin! Loved this dish with the cilantro lime rice. Yummy. (Now if I can just keep the left overs from my son; it's my lunch tomorrow.)
recipe looks really nice. I will definitly make this
What type of chili did you use? Also, can you sub out the sugar for something different? Thanks!
Anonymous: I like to use cayenne, chili de arbol or birds eye chilies depending on what I have on hand but you could use pretty much any chilies. Feel free to substitute the sugar for your sweetener of choice.
This looks good! There is a broth though and the recipe only calls for 1/2c of water. Confused.
Anonymous: I should have used the word sauce there as there is no broth in the sauce. The main liquid in the sauce is the water though you could use a broth if you like.
Made these tonight and they were lovely , thank you for the recipe . Julie
I totally enjoy your recipes. I'm so used to adding 'extra' stuff to recipes but yours…mostly prepare as they are. Love that you put the nutritional info on most of them. Thanks so much
Hi, tried this recipe. It's very good. But I didn't use sugar as the tomato sauce and sweet sauce makes it sweet. The colour didn't come out like yours.
I made this… not look like the pic. Tasted like tomato sauce, terrible. The egg makes no sense & made sauce soupy. I actually Rinsed the shrimp & sautéed them in lemon & garlic. Do not make
What kind of tomato sauce did you use?
How many people does this serve with only a half a cup of fluid(water)?
This serves 4 but there is not a lot of broth. If you want a version with more broth you can add chicken broth or water!
I’d love to make this over rice but not sure how there appears to be so much liquid/sauce in the photo with so little liquid in the ingredients list?
This Singapore Chili Prawns is so good! I used Seoul Sweet And Spicy Kimchi Hot Sauce and the parents loved it, too. Yummy! Best paired with my favorite Vita Sugar Cane Flavor Vita Juice.
we .love this recipe but more details about cooking it would be helpful. the instructions say it cooks for 20 minutes. at what point? wouldn’t the shrimp be overcooked?
thanks