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Chinese Takeaway Prawn Balls
Delicious, tender and oh so tasty! These irresistible prawn balls taste delicious, and I serve them with a homemade sweet and sour sauce. Let’s get cooking…
Marinated prawns, coated in a simple batter, then fried until beautifully golden and crispy. Are you drooling yet? Because I am!
When I tell you I enjoyed every single minute eating these prawn balls, I’m not even joking! They are very easy to make, the taste is irresistible, and the batter is fluffy and crispy all at the same time.
I’ve made Chinese chicken balls and pork balls before, and just like this recipe, the batter and sweet and sour sauce ingredients are the same. However, the different fillings make them all worth trying!
Recipe Ingredients
Below are the ingredients I used to make this recipe:
- Raw King Prawns: I peeled and cleaned the prawns before starting this recipe, you can buy them prepped already or you can do this manually. Occasionally, I like to use jumbo king prawns as they make larger ball sizes.
- Seasonings: The prawns are seasoned with salt, white pepper and a splash of Shaoxing cooking wine. After being seasoned the prawns are coated with self-raising flour.
- Batter: To make the batter I mix self-raising flour, water and salt together. This mix creates a thick batter that’s tender and golden. I also like to add a tablespoon of vegetable oil as it makes the prawn balls slightly shiny when fried.
- Sweet And Sour Sauce: I find the best copycat sweet and sour sauce is made by reducing a mixture of water, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, pineapple juice and cornflour over a medium to high heat until the sauce has thickened.
The sauce comes out quite bright like an authentic Chinese takeaway sweet and sour sauce and it’s the perfect match for fried prawn balls.
How To Make Prawn Balls
Here’s a summary of how I make Chinese takeaway prawn balls. You can get the full recipe instructions on the recipe card below:
Step One:
I start by placing prawns into a mixing bowl followed by the marinade ingredients, and I mix everything together. Then I mix in two tablespoons of self-raising flour.
Step Two:
In a large mixing bowl, I add self-raising flour and salt and mix everything together. Then I pour water into the bowl and mix again. I leave the batter to rest for 5 minutes (helps to remove lumps) and then I add a teaspoon of vegetable oil and mix together.
Step Three:
Oil is added to a wok heated over a medium heat and I place a handful of prawns at a time into the batter to coat them.
Step Four:
The coated prawns are placed into the oil and I fry them for 4 minutes or until the batter is golden. Cooked prawn balls will float to the top, if they’re not floating cook for an extra minute.
Step Five:
To make the sweet and sour sauce, I place water, sugar, ketchup, pineapple juice and vinegar into a pan that’s heated over a medium to high heat.
After 2 minutes, I add a cornflour slurry to the sauce and mix it together. Last but not least, I leave the sauce to simmer for a further 1 to 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
My Top Tips
I like to place fried prawn balls on a plate lined with kitchen paper as it will absorb excess oil and you’ll avoid having to wash a very greasy plate.
It’s so important that the oil is at a high temperature, this will give you golden and crispy prawn balls and not ones that are pale, overly greasy and soggy. To test if the temperature is hot enough, I either put a chopstick inside the oil. If I see fast and continuous bubbles appear, then I know the oil is hot enough for frying. Or I put a small drop of batter into the oil, if it starts cooking and bubbles appear then the oil is ready for frying.
If the prawn balls are browning too fast and becoming dark quite quickly, turn the heat down. An alternative is to add more oil to the wok or frying pan to cool down the overall temperature.
How To Store
Keep any leftovers in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days. I like to reheat them in the microwave, but the texture can soften and turn soggy.
How To Serve Prawn Balls
I think prawn balls go with pretty much EVERY Chinese fakeaway dish! You can eat these prawn balls with the sauce alone, but if you want to make more of a filling meal, I recommend a side of Singapore Fried Rice, King Prawn Chow Mein or a side of Chicken Vermicelli noodles.
For a lighter side, you could serve this dish with other sides like my Crispy Chilli And Honey Beef or Honey Chilli Chicken recipe.
