Garlic Prawns with Crispy Garlic Chips
Goong Gratium
Garlic-marinated shrimp stir-fried gently and topped with crispy fried garlic
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 3 min
- Serves
- 4
- Heat
- mild
This dish gives shrimp a break from the usual chili-heavy treatment, instead building flavor from garlic in two forms: a fine paste of garlic and coriander root that the shrimp marinate in, and a batch of coarsely ground garlic fried separately into crunchy golden chips. Cooking the shrimp gently rather than over blazing heat is what keeps them tender and protects the garlicky marinade from scorching. Finished with a scatter of the homemade fried garlic and fresh cilantro, it's a simple, mild dish that lets the natural sweetness of the shrimp come through.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups Garlic (small garlic with skin left on, or large cloves peeled and trimmed, roughly ground)
- 1/3 cup Vegetable oil (for frying the garlic)
- 533 g Shrimp (prawn) (peeled, deveined)
- 5 Garlic, large cloves (ground with the coriander root)
- 5 Coriander root, large (ground with the garlic)
- 1 1/3 tablespoons Fish sauce
- 2 3/4 teaspoons Sugar
- 1/3 teaspoon White pepper, finely ground
- 1 1/3 tablespoons Vegetable oil (for stir-frying the shrimp)
Directions
- Heat the 1/3 cup of oil in a small pan over low heat. Fry the ground garlic slowly until just lightly browned — watch closely, as it burns easily and turns bitter. Drain thoroughly through a strainer so the chips dry out as they cool.
- Grind the garlic and coriander root together into a fine paste. Stir together with the fish sauce, sugar, and white pepper in a bowl.
- Toss the shrimp in the marinade until well coated. Let stand for 15 minutes.
- Heat the remaining oil in a wok over low-medium heat. Add the shrimp and let them warm gradually rather than searing hard — high heat here toughens the shrimp and can scorch the garlic. Stir constantly; they should start turning pink after about a minute.
- Let the sauce bubble for another minute. The shrimp are done once curled and fully pink.
- Serve on a shared plate with rice and other dishes. Sprinkle with the fried garlic chips and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Notes
Cook the shrimp over low-medium heat rather than blasting them on high — gentler heat keeps them tender and protects the garlic in the sauce from burning.
Substitutions
Store-bought fried garlic can substitute for homemade if time is short, though the flavor and texture won't be quite as good.