Assam Prawn (method 2)

Assam Prawn

Following method 1, I finally remembered the original version how it was cooked.  And of course, this one tastes deliciously yummy.

Serving: 2-3 persons
Preparation: 10 minutes
Marination time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:
400g big prawn
4 cloves garlic - minced
50-75g tamarind paste
150ml water
1 ladle of oil - for deep frying
2 tbsp light soy sauce
sugar to taste

Method:
Trim the prawns' attenna, walking & swimming legs. Leave the head and shell intact. Put it in a medium or big bowl.

In a small bowl, mix the tamarind paste in 150 ml water. Extract tamarind juice (you may have to get your hands dirty here). Strain the tamarind juice onto the prawn for marination.  Leave aside for 20-30 minutes

Heat oil in wok.  When it is hot, add 3-4 prawns for deep-frying.  When the shell is almost red, flip the prawn to deep-fry the other side.  Make sure the prawn is cook without burning it.  Drain & leave aside.  Deep-fry the rest of the prawn in batches.

With some left over oil (about 1 tbsp), sauteed the garlic.  When it is almost golden brown, pour in the light soy sauce and quickly, the tamarind juice gradually.  (You don't have to use the whole tamarind juice).  Lower the fire.  Sugar to taste.

Pour in the fried prawn and stir-fry it until the tamarind gravy "coat" the prawn.  The assam prawn is ready to be served.

As usual, do not deshell the prawn right away.  Enjoy the tamarind coated fried prawn before you deshell it.   Bon apetit!

Note:
Prawn
Do not deep fried the prawn at one go.  By deep-frying 2-3 or 3-4 prawns, you will get a crispy shell texture (and not flesh that stick to the shell).  After deep-frying, the shell is slightly red color with burnt (e.g. grill or bbq effect).

Oil
If the initial oil for frying isn't enough after few batches of frying, you can add a little bit more.
After frying, if too much oil in excess, please discard it but leave enough to sauteed the garlic.  Note that, the deep fried prawn also have oil.

Taste
Balance the sweet & sour.  Only then you adjust whether you want it to be much sweeter or sour.

Marination
If the tamarind juice is not enough to cover the prawn, you can either add in more water or alternate stir the prawn so it marinades well.

Gravy
Depending how much gravy you want, it is not necessary to pour in everything. Otherwise, the gravy is too much and if you can't finish it, it is wasting. Alternative, you can pour the extra gravy onto a small bowl for dipping purposes.
If it is not enough, then you can add in water; gradually.