Silky Scrambled Eggs with Prawns

Silky scrambled eggs with prawns (滑蛋蝦仁) is a classic Cantonese dish that everyone loves. It is a simple and straightforward dish, but does require attention to details if you would like the eggs to be soft, fluffy and silky.

The eggs are the star of this dish. Use the best quality egg possible. It is often believed that the colour of egg yolk reflects the quality of the egg and its flavour, but not everyone supports such belief. Personally, I do prefer those with deep orange yolks which will make this dish look stunning.

A frequent problem of this dish is that the eggs are sitting in a pool of water which is released during cooking. This is due to the fact that the eggs are cooked too quickly at hot temperature, squeezing water out of the egg proteins.

Some people suggest that adding milk to the eggs will make them fluffy and silky. However, this may achieve the opposite result. The milk will increase the cooking time, resulting in rubbery curds with more water released from the eggs as well as the milk.

There are a few things you can do to ensure that you will get soft, fluffy and silky scrambled eggs.

• The eggs should be cooked very gently using only the residual heat of a wok (or a frying pan) with the heat turned off. The gentle heat will produce incredibly soft eggs with reduced risk of water releasing from the eggs.
• You should also separate the whites from the yolks, and whisk the whites incorporating air into them in the form of air bubbles. The beaten egg whites are then mixed with the yolks to form a fluffy mixture.
• Furthermore, you need to add salt to the egg mixture before cooking. Salt will inhibit the proteins in the egg yolks from binding too tightly when they are heated up. This will result in a moist and tender curd.

It is believed that the scrambled egg cooking techniques were developed by the Tanka (boat people) who lived in junks in the Whampoa dock area in Guangdong. Scrambled eggs were common street food made by the Tanka who cooked thoroughly whisked eggs using lard. In this recipe, if you prefer the most authetic flavour, you could replace one of the three tbsp of oil used for cooking eggs by 1 tbsp of lard.

It has been suggested that adding a small amount of starch slurry to the egg mixture (2tsp corn starch/potato starch/tapioca mixed with 4tsp water) may make the scrambled eggs creamier. This is because the starch will physically impede the linking of proteins, preventing the eggs form being overcooked. The starch granules also swell when heated with moisture, binding the water and preventing it from escaping. I think this is a welcomed idea if you do not have the time or energy to follow the above cooking techniques. I prefer not to make the dish more complicated, and this is not really necessary if you cook the eggs properly as described earlier.

In Cantonese cooking, apart from prawns, scrambled eggs are also commonly made with chopped char siu, marinated beef slices, a mix of crabmeats and julienned ham, or tomatoes.

Silky Scrambled Eggs with Prawns (滑蛋蝦仁)

Print

Serves: 2 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes 15 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 150g uncooked prawns, shelled and deveined
• 1/4 + 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 80ml vegetable oil 
• 5 eggs, egg whites and yolks separated
• A pinch of ground white pepper
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Marinate the prawns with 1/4 tsp of the salt, sugar and Shaoxing wine for 15 minutes.
2. Heat 80ml of oil in a wok (or a frying pan) under high heat. Shallow fry the prawns for about a minute until they curl up and turn pink. Drain the oil and set aside the prawns. Save 3 tsp of the oil for cooking the eggs later. Clean the wok.
3. Beat the egg whites until white and fluffy. You do not need to beat the eggs until they form peaks as you are not making meringue. But it should be foamy with big air bubbles. Mix in the egg yolks, the remaining 1/2 tsp salt, white pepper, the prawns, sesame oil and spring onions.
4. Reheat the wok under high heat. Add the 3tbps of oil that you have saved earlier. Turn off the heat when the wok becomes hot and smoky. Pour in the egg mixture. The eggs will quickly puff and its underside will be cooked. Using a wok spatula, move the egg mixture slowly from one side of the wok to the other, displacing the cooked bottom part and allowing the uncooked runny part to be in contact with the wok. Repeat this action in different directions a few times to form layers of cooked eggs. Do not turn over the eggs.
5. Put the wok back on low heat briefly as the oil cools down. Turn off the heat when the eggs are starting to bubble around the edges. Continue to cook by moving the egg mixture sideways a few more times.
6. Repeat the above step until the eggs are just cooked with a soft, fluffy and silky texture. You may need to turn the heat on and off a few times.
7. Serve immediately with cooked white rice.