By Janness Koh

Although I am not a big fan of prawns in general, I grew up eating this simple yet very delicious prawn dough fritter or commonly known in Hokkien as “Hei Biang Ji”. This is pretty filling for a snack so I tend to have a few as a full meal. It uses simple ingredients and is not too difficult to cook but needs a lot of patience as the fritter is fried one at a time.

It is super crispy outside yet soft and moist inside with the aroma of both the prawns and bean sprouts with every bite. Just perfect!

You will still be able to buy this outside but it is not as common and original anymore with the different versions you will find. Hence, I am always badgering my dad to make this. This is my dad’s recipe and once again everything is by his estimation while I tried my best to give the closest measurement. Papa Koh’s tip is that mixing in some tempura mix is crucial in giving this the extra crispiness and fragrance.

Serving Size: Depending on ladle size, app. 20 +/-
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
550ml water
100-150g flour
1 tablespoon tempura mix
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoon salt
100g beansprouts
30-40 shelled prawns

Directions:

First, mix all ingredients except the beansprouts and prawns. You want to get a semi-watery mixture, try frying one first and add more flour or water accordingly depending how dense of the dough you prefer.

Fill up wok or deep fryer with oil.

Scoop a small amount of hot oil into the ladle and spoon in the mixture to cover about ⅓ of the ladle, add some beansprouts and scoop another ⅓ of mixture over it.

Add 2-3 prawns depending on the size of it and finally cover with mixture again till ladle is full.

Put the ladle in the oil and slowly pick it out of the ladle as it cooks, leave the fritter to deep fry while you continue to make the next one.

Remove the fritter from the oil once it’s golden brown.  You want to make sure the prawns are very crispy so that you can choose to eat the prawns with the shells too.
* I personally like eating this with ketchup