Cereal Prawns (麦片虾)

“Cooking is about versatility. Save your bucks, cook this scrumptious cereal prawn dish with 3-in-1 cereal sachets which already are available in your kitchen or drinks pantry!”

Learn how to cook cereal prawns is definitely a plus point to save your bucks as having cereal prawns at the restaurants could cost you at least S$30 for the dish. However, if you cook this at home, it will simply shack off a $10 note from your wallet for the ingredients. Moreover, it’s easy to cook, and delicious to eat!

There are many ways to cook cereal prawns. With or without eggs, with or without creamer, with premix or original plain cereal.. I used what I’ve gotten in my kitchen cabinet, the usual cereal drink comes in 3-in-1 sachets which I bought to make drink for the family in the mornings. Yeah, unless what you have is the original cereal in tin packaging, just mix your own non-dairy creamer and sugar moderately. Otherwise, use those you already have in your drinks pantry! Yes, I have 3-in-1 sachets (I bought NesVita 3in1 Low Fat cereal drink by Nestlé brand).

I cooked this a few times, and tried to cook with and without egg. This recipe I am sharing now is the one without eggs. Hence, it looks less greasy as less butter was used.

You might think it will be slightly less fragrant since those two main ‘fragrance contributors’, butter and eggs, were lessen or absent in the dish. However, I preferred this version as like what I said, it was much less oily! I loved this eggless Cereal Prawn, and still found it very fragrant with a hint of curry leave scent.

Ingredients
500 – 600 grams of medium prawns, trimmed and deveined
Handful of curry leaves (from about 2 stems)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bird eye chilli aka chilli padi, julienned
1 knob of butter (about 40 – 50 gram)

3 sachets of 3-in-1 Low-fat Cereal
Sprinkles of salt
Generous dashing of white ground pepper

Seasoning of prawns:
Sprinkle a mixture of sesame oil, pepper and light soy sauce

2 cups of cooking oil (for deep-frying)

Alternative: If you are NOT using 3in1 sachet, but having the original plain cereal, add the below:
6 tablespoons of cereal (Nestum)
4 teaspoons of non-dairy creamer (Nestlé)
3 teaspoons of sugar
* Mix all together, with salt and pepper.

Method:
1) Clean prawns with shell intact, trim legs. Use scissors to cut a slit at the back of prawns to devein. Pat dry the prawns with kitchen towel. Season prawns and leave aside for 10 minutes. You may leave it in the refrigerator.

2) Heat wok with oil over high heat. Add some salt into the oil. Make sure oil is heated till really hot before deep frying prawns for 1 minute or until pinked and crisped (You may fry prawns in deep fryer, as desired). Drain on kitchen towel and set aside.

3) In a clean small bowl, pour out and place the sachets of cereal all into it. Mix in salt and pepper. Set aside.

4) Remove exessive oil from the wok and heat up with butter over medium-low heat. Brown garlic, and add in chilli padi and curry leaves, stir fry till fragrant (beware of pungent scent of chilli padi). When done, heat off and immediately add in cereal mixture and crisped prawns. Stir vigorously to combine well. Serve immediately.

A portion of fried cereal prawns counts about 500 – 600kcal! Yes, without the egg even.. So, you have to really try to limit your intake with this sinful savoury, if you are watching out your weight or having relatively high cholesterol level in your body.

Tips: If you are not confident to well mix the cereal and prawns quick enough upon heat off, you may choose to reduce heat to very low fire and do the mixing, just before heat off.
* Deep fry the prawns till really crisped in extremely high flame, so that you may chomp the whole prawn with its crispy shell altogether. **Beware of splashing oil when frying.
* Lightly coat the prawns with corn flour before deep frying for crispiness, if you intend to eat also the shell, optional. Otherwise, just fry prawns till cooked.