Large prawns (fresh, head-on)

大蝦

補腎（傳統）通乳（民間）高蛋白連頭煎香滾出奶白鮮湯

Fresh head-on prawns, the quick-soup counterpart to dried shrimp. Trimmed and seared shell-on until the head oil runs orange, then hit with boiling water, they roll into a milky, intensely sweet prawn broth in minutes. The heads, not the flesh, carry most of the flavour.

TCM properties

Nature · warming　Flavour · sweet、salty　Meridians · kidney

Traditional food therapy

In Cantonese food therapy prawns are regarded as warming and kidney-supporting, with folk tradition using them in soups for nursing mothers; they are also valued simply as a high-protein quick-soup meat.

Cautions — read first

Avoid if you are allergic to seafood
Go carefully if you have gout (high in purines)
Prawns are traditionally counted as a stirring food (發物), one said to aggravate existing conditions, so go carefully during a flare of sensitive skin or eczema
Cook them right through

Preparation

Trim the feelers, devein them and leave the heads on. Sear both sides until fragrant (the oil from the heads is what makes the soup milky), then pour in boiling water and boil hard.

Origin

昆士蘭、北領地野生香蕉蝦及本地養殖大蝦 — AU retail is local wild-caught or farmed (Umall stocks Tarni wild-caught Australian banana prawns)

Availability in Australia

Common at Asian grocers · A$25.49–50.99 / kg
Umall frozen: Tarni wild-caught AU banana prawns 16/20 1kg $25.49 (promo, was $35.69); AU raw king prawns peeled 700g $35.69 ($50.99/kg); IQF raw prawn meat 31/40 700g $17.99

Pairs well with

Chayote Dried scallop (conpoy)Dried whole shrimp (large)Lean pork

Soups that use this ingredient · 1

Chayote and pork slice soup (milky prawn version)Not yet surveyed (we say so honestly)

合掌瓜肉片湯（奶白合掌瓜大蝦肉片湯）

moistens the lungssoothes coughresolves phlegmAutumnWinterSummer

街市Chayote· 2街市Large prawns (fresh, head-on)· 4 to 6街市Lean pork· 200 g百子櫃Dried scallop (conpoy)· 10百子櫃Dried whole shrimp (large)· 4街市Fresh ginger· 3 slices

“The pot Ah Ma keeps for her night owls.”