Singaporean Chili Prawns/Shrimp

Singapore is a small island nation off the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It was once a British colony and naval base, but during World War Two British and Commonwealth forces there were defeated by the Japanese, bringing about a ruthless occupation of Singapore by Japan, particularly relating to people of Chinese ethnicity, which resulted in the deaths of "perhaps as many as 50,000" people of Chinese background in Singapore and Malaya. Later Singapore was part of Malaysia, before becoming an independent nation in the mid 1960s.     

The food of Singapore has strong influences from Chinese and Malay cuisine, as well as from the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent. The word "prawns" is often used in English spoken outside of North America, as here in the United States especially, it is a word that is rarely heard. I'm not completely sure about its usage in Canada or on some of the Atlantic islands, but I would "guess" it is used a bit more than in the U.S. Here in the U.S., "shrimp" is the overwhelmingly used word, and it is also commonly used for both the singular and plural forms, where in England and the rest of Britain, "shrimps" is more commonly used for the plural. While not quite as starkly different, "chili," with one "l," is likely a little more common in U.S. spelling, while "chilli" is more common in the English elsewhere, but the double "l" spelling is not unseen in the U.S. In fact, over the years when I would prepare to write or type the word, I'd have to think about how we usually spell it.

Recipes for chili prawns call for raw, shell on prawns, but I've made them with both raw or peeled shrimp over the years. When I made them for this article, I used the raw shell on type.    

These chili prawns are great served with white rice.

Ingredients:

2 green onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
(optional) 1 tablespoon black bean garlic sauce*
3 tablespoons thick tomato ketchup (or tomato paste)
2 to 3 red chilies, seeded and finely chopped (if you don't have fresh chilies, you can use Sambal Oelek)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
2/3 to 1 pound raw medium shrimp(s) in the shells
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1 egg, beaten
chopped green onion for garnish
chopped fresh cilantro (also known as coriander) for garnish

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the finely chopped green onion, then about 30 seconds later add the minced garlic and minced ginger. Saute for about 30 to 45 seconds, stirring the ingredients around, then remove the skillet from the heat briefly to add the brown sugar, ketchup, black bean garlic sauce (if using) and the red chilies; stir to mix, then return to the heat and cook for about a minute, then add the raw shrimp/prawns. Cook for about 30 seconds, then turn the prawns over. Stir in the vegetable or chicken stock and let the broth come to a simmer. (If you use already peeled cooked shrimp(s), add the broth to the skillet first and let it come to a simmer, then add the shrimps. Overcooked prawns/shrimps can become chewy or rubbery and I know. I once overcooked some shrimp, I dropped one, but it bounced right back up on my plate. Use some cornstarch mixed with water to thicken the sauce, then gradually add the beaten egg, stirring as you add it. I mix the egg in completely, but some people just give it a light swirl to create ribbons of egg in the sauce. Top each serving with some chopped green onion and some freshly chopped cilantro (also known as coriander).

* Black bean garlic sauce is made with fermented black beans, soy sauce and some other ingredients. It is available in Asian grocery stores and in the Asian section of many supermarkets. The flavor is salty and somewhat sweet. It is more typical in Chinese cooking.

Served over white rice ...

WORD HISTORY:
Article-This word is related to quite a number of words, including, "arm" (limb of the upper body), a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "arm" (weapon), a Latin-derived word, borrowed by English via French and to "articulate," a word borrowed by English directly from Latin. "Article" goes back to Indo European "ar," which had the notion of "to fit together, to join," the extended form of which was the noun "ar(e)tus" meaning, "joint, junction, that which fits together." This gave Latin the noun "artus," which meant "anatomical joint" (the Latin adjective of the same spelling meant "well fitted, narrow). This produced the Latin noun "articulus," meaning "a knuckle, a joint, a finger, a member, a part, a grammatical part of speech." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "article," meaning, "joint," but also, "part or section of a document or law, part of religious belief." English borrowed the word in the early 1200s with the meaning relating to separate parts of laws or agreements, likely due to the fact that Norman French and Latin were used in legalistic matters in England after the Norman Conquest. The meaning was extended by circa 1700 to "a series of writings usually about the same overall topic," as in, "Jacqueline has written numerous articles about the stage stars of the 1930s." The grammatical use, as in "the definite article" and the "indefinite article," apparently came from Latin "articulus" in the 1500s (mid?). The meaning relating to personal objects (clothing or other personal property) seems to have developed among the jargon of thieves, but it then spread into every day usage by the early 1800s.