Butter prawns with oats and egg floss, Malaysian Style?

These prawns are crunchy, juicy, coated with oats, and crispy strips of egg floss.

Yes, egg floss.  You read it right. Crispy and buttery!

If you are not convinced you should cook it, take a look at the picture below.

We developed this recipe several years ago and featured as the exclusive dish on the menu of our cafe.

Butter prawns with oats and egg floss may be slightly tedious to prepare, but it is relatively easy and with a broad margin of error. The only thing you have to remember is to fry the prawns in VERY hot oil, and the egg floss should be deep-fried until crispy and golden brown. However, I will explain in detail so that you will be able to do it correctly, the first time.

I have divided the recipe into bite-size steps. You can do one step after another. No hurry.

Let’s get started.

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How to prepare butter and oat prawns in five simple steps

Step 1- Preparing the prawns for deep-frying

Butter prawns with oats and egg floss required the prawns to have the shell on. The egg floss and oats will adhere to the surface.  What a beautiful presentation!

Choose the medium to large size prawns for this dish. First, clean the prawns under running water. Then use a pair of scissors to cut away the head.  Then, cut off the telson, i.e., the last segment of the abdomen which is sharp. The sharp end of this segment can hurt your mouth if you are not careful while eating.

Use the scissors or paring knife to cut open the shell of the back of the prawns, starting from the front towards the tail. Remove the intestinal vein. This part is the digestive tract of the prawn which is dirty and smelly.  Leave the tail intact for better appearance.

Cut the back deeper with the knife to butterfly the prawns for better appearance. Wash again under running water.

Drain off the water with a wire mesh strainer. Then place it on a kitchen towel and pat dry. Set aside.

Step 2- Preparing the seasonings and herbs

Seasoning A- The dry mix for coating the prawns

The seasoning mix of this recipe consists of sugar, milk powder, salt, ground white pepper, and oats. This formula is my favorite, but you can make some changes by altering the quantity and remove the ingredients that you do not like.

You can use the Quakers instant oats for this recipe. The oats render a different dimension of flavor and texture to the prawns. You can omit the oats, as there are many restaurants only use egg floss to coat the prawns.

Note: If you drop the oat from the recipe, it will become Butter prawns with egg floss. It is still a delicious variation.

Since these are dry ingredients, you will expect some salt and sugar will stick to the prawns as separately. There isn’t any problem with that, and people who eat it will appreciate the sharpness and distinctive flavor of each seasoning.

Seasoning B- The herbs and spices

The most critical herb is curry leaves. As the name implies, these leaves are used to cook curry. You can certainly use curry leaves to prepare many other Asian cuisines besides preparing curries.

Curry leaves are quite easy to grow in tropical countries. I have some which I plant in front of my cafe. You can also use dry curry leaves which you can purchase online.

I use bird’s eye chili as we Malaysian like hot foods. You may want to omit it or use other types of chili as it will not affect much of the flavor. I prefer to cut it into small pieces and sprinkle on top of the prawns for garnish.

Butter is used to saute the curry leaves and the dry mix briefly. A cheaper alternative is margarine, but with less flavor, The prawns are then added to the mixture and dish out after a few quick stirs.

Step 3- How to make the egg floss.

The unique element of this recipe is the egg floss, which is specific to this recipe. As such, I will elaborate further to ensure you will succeed in your first attempt.

I usually use five egg yolks to make egg floss for 1kg of prawns, but you can make more if you like it. The extra egg floss will not adhere to the surface of the shells. The remainder can be served on the same plate as many people like to eat the prawns together with extra egg floss.

Butter is ideal for this step, but since it is expensive, some people like to substitute it with margarine.

Since the butter will turn brown after deep-frying, it cannot be reused. So just use enough for deep-frying to avoid wastage.

Open all the windows or do it outdoor if you want to keep your house free from oil.

Here are the steps to make the egg floss:

• Separate the egg whites from yolks.
• Beat the egg yolks until homogenous.
• Heat up the butter or margarine in a wok.
• Pour the egg yolks into the wok at high point slowly and consistently. At the same time, beat the yolks vigorously with a wire whisk until it forms numerous fine strings. This method is similar to make egg-drop soup if you have prepared one before.
• Keep stirring the oil even after pouring all the egg liquid into the oil. The egg liquid will move in a circular motion and form fine strips when it is cooked.
• Keep the oil hot enough throughout the process. The butter or margarine will look foamy, which is expected.
• Check the color of the egg strips from time to time. Remove it when it starts to turn golden brown. Please note that since the oil is very hot, the color of the egg strips will become darker even after removing from the oil. Do consider this when deep-frying the eggs.
• Place the egg strips in a wire mesh strainer. By now the egg has become golden brown and crispy. Drain off the oil. Set aside.

Note: Making egg floss is the most tedious step of this recipe. Omit it? It becomes butter and oat prawns. Many restaurants are offering this too, but I do not mind to take the extra miles to make the egg floss. It is heavenly delicious.

Step 4- Deep fried the prawns

Preheat the vegetable oil to 180°C/ 355°F. Make sure the prawns are dry before deep-frying to avoid splattering.
The best way to deep-fry the prawns is to use an electric deep fryer since the temperature is regulated. You can also put the prawns in the deep-frying basket and lower into a pot of hot oil. Keep the oil at high heat throughout the deep-frying process.
You need to deep-fried the prawns until it turns pink and translucent. This process may take 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, depends on the size of the prawns.

Drain away the oil. Set aside.

I suggest you opened all your window when you deep-fried the prawns. There will be a fair bit of smoke. Let the smoke escape through the window, or you can just do it outdoor.

Step 5- Combine all the ingredients with the prawns.

You are now ready to be enchanted by the symphony of the aroma of prawns, eggs, and the curry leaves.

The aroma will drift into the sitting room and allure everyone into the kitchen, standing behind you.

Here are the steps:

• Heat up 30g of butter in a wok. Add the curry leaves and sauté over low heat until aromatic. The time required is quite short, usually within a minute.
• Then add the dry mix seasoning and mix briefly with the oil and curry leaves. You will find that the sugar and salt may not dissolve, which is OK as you will taste the difference flavor separately.
• Add the prawns and the egg strips. Have a quick stir-fry and dish up.
• Chop some bird’s eye chili and sprinkle on the prawns. I prefer to use the red bird’s eye chili to add the red color to it. The curry leaves will provide the green.

Butter prawns with oats and egg floss is an exquisite dish for the multi-course Chinese banquet. Try this recipe. You can now cook this fabulous, mouth-wearing juicy prawns at your comfy home.

The butter prawns with oats and egg recipe