Kung Po Prawns Recipe

Whisk the 1 teaspoon cornflour with 1 tablespoon soy sauce in a medium bowl. Add the prawns, tossing to coat them evenly, then set them aside for 10 minutes to marinate.

While the prawns marinate, prepare the sauce: in a separate bowl, stir together the remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon tomato purée, 1 teaspoon caster sugar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water until the sugars dissolve. This is your sauce base.

Add the remaining sunflower oil to the same pan over medium-high heat. Toss in the 85 g peanuts, 3 chillies, and 450 g water chestnuts, stir-frying for 2 minutes, or until the peanuts begin to deepen in color. Stir in the minced ginger and 6 cloves garlic, cooking for 1 more minute until you can smell their aroma.

Return the seared prawns to the pan. Pour in the prepared sauce and let it simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon and clings to the prawns. Serve immediately with steamed rice.