Prawn paste

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• A cleaver, its flat side for smashing and its edge for chopping; a food processor works if you pulse it, never run it to a purée
• A large bowl, chilled in the fridge first
• A spoon kept in cold water, or wet hands, for scooping the paste into the pot at the table

How the time splits

1. 20 minPeel and devein the prawns and rub them clean with salt twicehands on
2. 1 hrPat dry, wrap in a towel and chillhands off
3. 15 minSmash and chop to a paste, stir one way until sticky, then throw it against the bowlhands on
4. 45 minChill in the fridge until firmhands off

Method

1. Peel the prawns and make a shallow cut down each back to lift out the vein. Rub the meat gently for a minute with 1 tablespoon of salt to clear the slime and the fishy smell, rinse under cold water, then rub and rinse once more.
2. Pat every prawn dry with kitchen paper, then wrap them in a dry tea towel and leave them in the fridge for an hour or two; the drier the better. Wet prawns will not turn sticky however long you beat them, so do not skip this.
3. Set aside a third of the prawns and cut them into rough dice. Smash the rest with the flat of the cleaver, then chop them to a paste, leaving a little texture.
4. Put the paste in the chilled bowl, add ½ teaspoon of salt and stir with chopsticks in one direction for two or three minutes, until it turns thick and sticky and pulls into threads.
5. Add half the egg white, sugar, pepper and cornflour and keep stirring the same way until smooth, then fold in the diced prawns and the sesame oil.
6. Gather the paste in your hand and throw it back into the bowl, twenty or thirty times, until it is firm and springy. Cover it and chill for at least 45 minutes; cold paste holds its shape.
7. At the table, spread it on a plate and scrape small spoonfuls into the boiling broth with a spoon dipped in cold water. Once the pieces float and turn pink and opaque, give them one more minute.
8. Any raw paste you will not use goes into a zip bag, pressed flat, into the freezer the same day; use it within a month. Thaw it in the fridge the night before, or in its bag under cold running water, and never refreeze it. The same paste stuffs tofu and makes prawn toast.

The short route

• Ready-made prawn paste from a Chinese grocer's freezer, moved to the fridge the night before and kept cold until it goes to the table.
• Frozen raw peeled prawns: thaw them in the fridge overnight, and after cleaning dry them very well before you beat them.

The sauce plate

Garlic soyGinger soy

Take care

• Contains prawn (crustacean) and egg; the soy in the saucers contains soy and wheat (gluten).
• Keep the raw paste in the fridge until it goes to the table, and out for no more than two hours. The spoon for the raw paste never goes in anyone's mouth. Eat the prawn paste only once it floats, is pink and is opaque in the middle, after a minute more. Never refreeze paste that has been thawed.

The story

Some Hong Kong hotpot shops beat their own prawn paste and some buy it in. Make it at home and you know how much prawn went in and whether any starch did. On other days the same paste stuffs tofu or makes prawn toast.

Same kind

Egg dumplingsCuttlefish pasteHand-beaten beef balls

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.