Seafood is pretty much a staple in Japanese cuisine. Japan is an island nation, which means, historically, its people thrived on fishing and deriving nourishment from the sea. Prawns are one of their favorite ingredients found in many Japanese cuisine dishes!
Here are four simple, yet delicious Japanese cuisine prawns recipes you should try:
Fried Prawns Over Seaweed Salad
This is a great go-to dish for a quick, nutritious, and scrumptious meal with a great, gentle Japanese taste for when you want to relax, unwind, and snack on dinner or lunch while watching Netflix. It’s simple, yet dietary complete, and fits in a bowl!
First, make the seaweed salad. You can buy dried seaweed in the ethnic or Asian section of most groceries and supermarkets. Soak about 0.75 ounces of wakame seaweed (dried) in warm water for about five minutes, then drain and squeeze out the excess water. Cut them into half-inch width strips.
Mince half a teaspoon of garlic. Finely grate a teaspoon of ginger. Thinly slice two scallions. Shred a fourth cup of carrots. Chop up two tablespoons of fresh cilantro.
In a small bowl, mix together three tablespoons of vinegar and of soy sauce, a tablespoon of sesame oil, a teaspoon of sugar, some red pepper flakes, and the ginger and garlic.
Mix in the wakame seaweed, carrots, cilantro, and scallions. Toss and mix until uniform, then sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
Now, let’s make the sushi rice! Cook a cup of rice, then mix the cooked rice with two tablespoons of vinegar, two teaspoons of sugar, and one teaspoon of salt.
Next, dice up a green onion. Devein and peel a pound of prawns. Using medium high heat, warm a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet then throw in the green onions and stir well. After a minute, throw in the prawns and continue stirring until they turn pink.
Put the rice into a serving bowl or plate, then put the seaweed salad on top of it. Lastly, top it off with your prawns and onions.
Serve and enjoy!
Seaweed salad full recipe here.
Stick Harumaki Prawns
This dish is basically Japanese spring rolls with prawns as the protein.
Start off shredding a cup of cheese of your choosing. Devein and peel five prawns, then cut them into bite-sized pieces. Season with half a tablespoon of sake and 0.25 teaspoons of salt. Pat the prawns dry with a paper towel.
Using a cutting board, place five harumaki skin wrappers or egg roll skins with the length facing you. Set the prawns, two-thirds cups of edamame, and the cheese near the end facing you. Mix three tablespoons of flour and water then apply the mixture to the sides and to the other end.
Roll up the roll, using the flour mixture to help keep it tight and to seal it. Once you’ve made all of your rolls, fry them using oil and medium high heat until they’re golden brown.
Serve and enjoy! Full recipe here.
Hibachi Grilled Prawns
Everyone’s been to a hibachi grill chain restaurant before. The one where the chef makes your meal in a fanciful display in front of you. Well, here’s a recipe for hibachi-style grilled prawns that’ll combine this superfood protein with Japanese-style fried rice!
Peel and devein two pounds of prawns. Marinate the prawns in a bowl of a fourth cup of mirin and a teaspoon of: toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, and grated ginger. Mix to coat the prawns, then place in the refrigerator for an hour.
In another bowl, mix a half cup of mayo, two tablespoons of ketchup, two teaspoons of toasted sesame oil, one teaspoon of sriracha, half a teaspoon of garlic powder, a fourth teaspoon of grated ginger, and an eighth teaspoon of white pepper.
Chop a cup of scallions and onions.
Cook four cups of rice then scramble five eggs with salt and pepper using medium heat in a saucepan with one tablespoon of cooking oil. Keep the scrambled eggs in a separate bowl and chop them up into smaller pieces and mix with the scallions.
Next, warm a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil and melt a fourth cup of butter in another skillet and sautee the onions and a cup of frozen peas and carrots until the onions get soft.
Now, throw the rice and the scrambled eggs mixture into the skillet until everything is hot, then turn off heat and place a cover to keep it warm. (If it’s easier to sautee for you, you can refrigerate the cooked rice along with the prawns being marinated for that same hour so that they’ll stir fry better.)
Drain the prawns of excess marinade then drizzle with a tablespoon of cooking oil, then throw on a preheated grill. Grill until they’re slightly charred and a little bit firm.
Serve the grilled prawns with your fried rice and mayo mix! Enjoy.
Full recipe here.
Chawanmushi Prawns
Chawanmushi is a Japanese appetizer that translates close to “steamed cup meal.” It’s probably almost a dessert because its main composition is custard – but, it has healthy veggies and proteins, too! So, it’s in that lovely, cushy middle ground where you can pass it off as either a healthy snack or a cute little cup dessert you can impress your friends and visitors with!
You can use an authentic chawanmushi cup, which you can buy at Asian super stores, or you can settle for a heat-resistant teacup.
Peel and devein half a pound of prawns.
Put tap water into a pot such that there are two inches of water depth at the bottom. Place a steam rack on top of the pot then turn the heat up to medium-high until the water starts to simmer.
In a bowl, whisk together four eggs. In another bowl, combine half a teaspoon of salt, 2.5 cups of dashi, and one tablespoon of soy sauce and mirin. Carefully whisk the contents of the mirin bowl with the eggs until uniform.
Strongly recommended to strain your new mixture into a glass container to remove any impurities, like extra egg white or solids that didn’t get quite dissolved even after copious whisking.
Fill your desired number of serving chawanmushi or teacups to 75% with the strained mixture. For the final 25% you can add shiitake mushrooms, fish cakes, and fresh parsley. Finally, add an appropriate number of your prawns to each serving cup.
Cover your serving cups with aluminum foil or the chawanmushi lids. Place the cups onto the steam rack and cover the pot with a lid and let cook for 10 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
Full recipe here.
Hopefully, these recipes add a Japanese flare to your everyday prawns dishes! They’re so easy to make, and they’re both scrumptious and healthy – especially the chawanmushi dish because it’s steamed! Impress your friends with your new variety of exotic tasty quick meals with any of these four Japanese cuisine prawns dishes.
