Salt And Pepper Prawns

300 g whole king prawns (shells on) ,deveined

300g cornflour

6-8 garlic cloves

½ thumb sized piece of ginger

1 large red chilli

1-2 spring onions

1 tsp. Salt

½ tsp ground white pepper

Pinch of sugar

1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn

Oil for shallow frying

Finely chop the garlic, ginger, red chilli and spring onion and place on a plate ready to stir fry.

Butterfly and devein the prawns, keeping the shell and head on. Then score horizontally across the prawn meat 4-5 times so that they open up nicely whilst cooking. Dust with 1-2 tbsp cornflour and set aside ready to pan fry/griddle.

Next, toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry pan and swirl them around on medium heat until they start to pop a little but not burn (it should take 1-2 minutes). Then add the salt and continue heating through for a further minute or so. Pour the peppercorns and salt into a pestle and mortar and add ½ tsp ground white pepper and a pinch of sugar into the mix before then pounding the peppercorns down to a powder.

Heat 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil into a frying pan and bring to a high heat. Place the prawns meat side down into the pan and pan fry for 3-4 minutes or until they start to turn pink. Turn once and cook the other side of the prawns in similar fashion.

Now start to stir fry the garlic in a wok with 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil on a medium heat. Constantly stir the garlic and fold through and cook until it starts to brown and separate a little, then add the ginger, chilli and spring onions. Next throw in the ground sichuan pepper salt mix and immediately add the cooked prawns to the wok and toss through 5-6 times in the wok before serving.