Prawn and vermicelli claypot

Ingredientsserves 4

Method

1. Soak the vermicelli ten minutes in cold water until soft, and drain. Trim the prawns' feelers and legs, slit the backs and pull out the vein, and pat dry; wet prawns spit in the oil.
2. Heat three tablespoons of oil in the wok until it smokes and half-fry the prawns, a minute a side, until the shells turn red and the edges catch; lift out. The oil now tastes of prawn.
3. Fry the garlic, ginger, celery and spring onion whites in the prawn oil until fragrant.
4. Add the oyster sauce, light soy, sugar, black pepper, sesame oil, wine and stock and bring to the boil; add the drained vermicelli, toss to coat, lid on, low heat three minutes.
5. Lay the prawns on top, lid on, two minutes more until the flesh is opaque and the bodies curl and the vermicelli has drunk the sauce; the fry only half-cooks them, and they finish steaming on the noodles.
6. Tip into a hot claypot, or serve from the wok, with the spring onion greens and one more grind of pepper. The vermicelli keeps drinking the sauce, so eat it at once.

Take care

• Contains crustacean (prawns); the soy contains soy and wheat; oyster sauce contains mollusc (oyster). Prawns must be cooked through, opaque and curled; the fry does not finish them, the steam on the vermicelli does.

The story

A claypot dish of the 1990s and after, when shell-on prawns stopped being a banquet item in Hong Kong; the claypot keeps the vermicelli hot on the table so it goes on drinking the sauce. Its Thai cousin arrived with the city's Thai restaurants in the same years, and at home the two now share a name.

Same technique

Claypot rice with cured meatsClaypot rice with beef and eggClaypot rice with chicken and mushroom

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.