Prawn Stuffed Peppers

[CFT]

Sorry, no pictures but I'd like to share a recipe for prawn stuffed peppers. I'll add pictures in the future.

Ingredients:

3 large bell peppers (red, yellow & orange are best)

Approx. 20 raw medium-large tiger prawns

Cornflour

Sauce:

Oyster sauce

1 teaspoon red chillies (fresh or minced)

Cornflour

Mince the prawns until you get a paste. I just chop up with a cleaver and do the minimum.

I've not played around with getting a very fine paste, and that kind of thing. I don't even pick it up and throw it back into the bowl to get it a bit more elasticity.

I season the prawn with ground black pepper, but I guess it should be white pepper. As you can tell already I'm not a purist. I don't use salt because the sauce is salty anyway.

Put this back in the fridge whilst you prepare the peppers.

Quarter the peppers length-ways, removing the stalk and cap. Make your cuts to take advantage of the shape of the pepper - you want 4 "cups" so that stuffing is easier.

I dust the inside of the pepper with cornflour to aid adhesion of the minced prawns. Since the pepper is wet from washing etc. the cornflour turns a bit "gluey".

Retrieve the minced prawns from the fridge. Use a teaspoon to spoon the prawns into each pepper quarter. Depending on the size of the prawns sometimes you have to "steal" some prawn paste from other quarters to finish the last one. So defrost a few extra to make life easy.

I then halve each quarter across the short-length so you end up with nice bite size pieces. I think it is also easier to cook since the natural curve of the pepper would otherwise stop the prawn mixture making contact with the wok surface.

Now to cooking. Heat some oil up in a wok until surface starts shimmering. Put peppers in prawn side down. Lower the heat so that the prawns don't burn. When the prawns turn pink and start browning, turn them over so that the peppers get a touch of heat. Give it a minute or two.

You might need to cook in 2 batches depending on the size of your wok.

At this point add a teaspoon of minced red chillies (or more depending on taste). Dash in a good dollop of Oyster sauce. Stir around to give the peppers a good coating of Oyster sauce & chillie. Thicken with cornflour slurry.

Plate up and enjoy.

You can use White fish instead of prawn, something I will play with in the future.

For the sauce you could add some garlic with the chillies, and probably some cooking wine. I've not experimented with my basic recipe.

EDIT: Can a moderator correct my stupid spelling mistake in the title.

EDIT2: Thank you.

Edited March 6, 2006 by CFT (log)

[Rehovot]

This sounds great. I look forward to trying it. How does the prawn mixture hold together enough to allow you to turn the quarters over?

Maybe you have enviable flipping skill...I think if I tried this, I would get minced prawn everywhere.

Any other tips you have for making this? It sounds like it would be great as an appetizer.

[CFT]

This sounds great. I look forward to trying it. How does the prawn mixture hold together enough to allow you to turn the quarters over?

Maybe you have enviable flipping skill...I think if I tried this, I would get minced prawn everywhere. 

Any other tips you have for making this? It sounds like it would be great as an appetizer.

←

Well, the minced prawn/paste is pretty viscous in it's own right - it doesn't flow or flake or fall apart. Once cooked it kind of forms a homogenous whole. The only problem you might have is if the chunk of prawn filling detaches itself from the pepper, but even then it is not a real problem; just find and match the prawn chunk to the bit of pepper it fell off from.

[jo-mel]

If you don't wash the inside of the peppers, then the filling sticks better than wet insides ---- but the cornstarch offsets this. As the cornstarch cooks -- it provides a 'glue'.

As far as turning them --- use utencils in both hands -- a spoon or a chopstick in each. Turning without losing the filling is then no problem. If, for some reason, a filling comes out --- just push it back in. It will have formed itself to the shape of the pepper and it will fit nicely and neatly back in its place.

[Dejah]

Use tongs to turn the stuffed pepper pieces over. This way, you are holding everything together as you turn.

To keep the insides of the pepper dry, wash the peppers, dry with paper towel, then cut them.

Edited March 6, 2006 by Dejah (log)

[Gastro888]

The most important question is:

What's the name of this dish in Chinese?

My brain draws a blank on this one and I fear my Chinese card will be revoked. Ai ya!

[I_call_the_duck]

Yerng lat gew?

I think that's just stuffed peppers, but that's what my muddled ABC-brain is telling me.

[sheetz]

Last time I made these the peppers tasted very bland. Next time I think I will lightly salt and drain them before stuffing.

Edited March 7, 2006 by sheetz (log)

[jo-mel]

The most important question is:

What's the name of this dish in Chinese?

My brain draws a blank on this one and I fear my Chinese card will be revoked.  Ai ya!

←

Rhoda Yee calls her Seafood Stuffed Bell Peppers - Ha Yu Yeung Lot Jiu

The closest I can figure from the characters she uses is: 虾肉酿辣椒 (Xia rou niang la jiao), altho the peppers are not hot --- just regular green bell peppers.

To make it Shrimp stuffed Bell Peppers would be: 虾鱼酿辣椒 I think?

I've looked in several areas and I can't see the word 'stuffed', in Chinese, to describe a Chinese dish. I guess I can check out menus.

[hzrt8w]

The closest I can figure from the characters she uses is: 虾肉酿辣椒 (Xia rou niang la jiao), altho the peppers are not hot --- just regular green bell peppers.

To make it Shrimp stuffed Bell Peppers would be:  虾鱼酿辣椒 I think?

←

Jo-mel Ma Ma: Shrimp stuffed Bell Peppers should be 虾肉酿辣椒.

虾 = Shrimpt

鱼 = fish

For Fish paste stuffed bell peppers, that would be 鱼肉酿辣椒.

[hzrt8w]

Yerng lat gew?

I think that's just stuffed peppers, but that's what my muddled ABC-brain is telling me.

←

You had it right! Niece duck!

"Yerng lat gew" is the Cantonese pronounciation. Yes it is a generic term for "stuffed peppers", which could be bell pepper or something like anaheim pepper or jalapeno pepper.

[CFT]

Last time I made these the peppers tasted very bland. Next time I think I will lightly salt and drain them before stuffing.

←

My wife prefers the red/yellow/orange ones because they are sweeter than the green variety.

[CFT]

I've looked in several areas and I can't see the word 'stuffed', in  Chinese, to describe a Chinese dish. I guess I can check out menus.

←

酿 (Cantonese: yerng) means to stuff or stuffed.

[His Nibs]

酿 Pinyin: niang4. As in

酿豆腐 Pinyin: niang4 dou4 fu3 aka stuffed tofu

or

酿青椒 Pinyin: niang4 qing1 jiao1 aka stuffed green peppers

Edited March 7, 2006 by His Nibs (log)

[jo-mel]

Still having trouble with the word 'stuffing' - 酿 Pinyin: niang4. The dictionaries I checked all have the translation for that character as 'brew / ferment', and nothing about a filling or the act of filling.