Learn how to make restaurant-quality Cereal Prawns at home. Deep-fried, crispy prawns are coated in buttery toasted cereals, aromatic curry leaves, and a little bit of kick from chilies. This easy recipe will surely impress your family!
Trim, peel, and devein the prawns – Trim the hard spine above the head and legs of prawns using kitchen scissors. Remove the shells, leaving the tail part on. With the tip of a sharp knife, gently slide the blade, tracing the whole outer curve of the prawns through the back. Remove the vein from the back of the prawns.
Rinse the prawns with clean water.
Heat oil deep enough for deep frying on medium-high heat.
Add egg white and salt to the prawns. Mix gently to prevent the prawn heads from separating from the bodies.
Lightly coat the prawns with cornstarch. Shake off the excess starch.
Deep fry the prawns in hot oil until light golden brown and crispy. You may have to deep fry the prawns in 2-3 batches.
Cool the prawns on a cooling rack to make them stay crispy and not soggy.
Toasted Cereal
Melt butter in a large frying pan over low-medium heat.
Slowly drizzle in the egg yolk while mixing vigorously with the hot butter to make the egg floss. This step is optional and can be omitted.
Add garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
Add bird's eye chilis and curry leaves. Stir fry until the curry leaves turn crispy for 1-2 minutes. Lower the heat to low heat.
Add cereal and seasonings – Add Nestum, milk powder, salt, sugar, chicken stock powder, and white pepper. Mix and toast until the cereal turns light brown.
Add fried prawns and mix until the prawns are coated with the cereals.