A quick prawn recipe loaded with BIG flavours! Seared prawns smothered in a spicy, sticky Asian sauce, these Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns will have you smacking your lips in utter satisfaction, feeling like you’ve just dined at a fancy modern Thai restaurant.
The sauce tastes like a homemade Chilli Jam except it’s far easier to make. 15 minutes, start to finish!
Quick prawn recipe with BIG flavours!
While I love a classic Chinese-style prawn stir fry with its clean and steady flavours, or the heart-stopping (in more ways than one) fried and sweet deliciousness of Honey Prawns, sometimes I find myself looking for a punch in the face (flavour-wise, that is!)
This prawn recipe came to be after I had a terrific Stir Fried Prawns in Chilli Jam at a modern(ish) Thai Restaurant. While I can’t replicate desserts at home on a whim, I usually have a fair chance of getting pretty close with savoury dishes.
I was going to try to replicate it using a homemade Chilli Jam recipe, but then I got lazy. Instead, I tried to achieve the same flavours using a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a dash of this and a splash of that.
And well, well, well, what do you know? It came out darn delicious. Really, really tasty and pretty close to making this with a homemade Chilli Jam, but just a whole lot easier and faster. 🙂
The sauce is essentially a quick and easy Chilli Jam – and it’s lip smackingly delish!
I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say that this really does taste like Spicy Stir Fries you get from modern Asian restaurants. I don’t claim this to be authentic Asian because it probably isn’t an authentic Asian stir fry but every ingredient in the sauce is certainly used in many Asian dishes!
A 12 minute recipe
There’s nothing more disappointing that shoving a big, plump, juicy-looking prawn in your mouth only to find it’s rubbery and dry.
So in my world, every prawn recipe has to be a quick recipe because otherwise you’ll overcook the prawn! And these Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns certainly fit the bill. Here’s how it goes down:
Chop / grate the ginger and garlic, measure out the sauce ingredients – 5 minutes
Sear prawns in 2 batches – 4 minutes
Simmer sauce until syrupy – 2 minutes
Toss prawns back in – 1 minute
Total time – 12 minutes 🙌🏻
TIP: get the rice started first, because that takes longer than this recipe!
Frozen prawns – all the way!
For the first couple of years when I started this website, I was a total prawn snob and urged everyone to peel their own prawns, declaring that frozen was just not the same. This conclusion was drawn from many years of mediocre frozen prawn experiences in my youth.
It’s been a very pleasant discovery to find that frozen prawns have come a long way in their time! Sure, some are better than others, but even the budget ones (eg Aldi, Costco) are still very good.
I still peel fresh prawns for company. But for everyday purposes, I’m all about frozen prawns nowadays – and I totally own it!
What to serve on the side
Serve with rice to soak up that glorious sauce. Or for a healthy low carb option try Cauliflower Rice – 77% fewer calories and 87% less carbs than rice!
Add some greens to your meal – here are a few suggestions:
Cucumber chunks tossed with Asian Sesame Dressing sprinkled with coriander/cilantro (pictured)
Asian Sesame Dressing drizzled ove leafy greens, tomato wedges or cherry tomatoes
Asian Slaw – terrifically fresh and crunchy!
Restaurant Style Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce – or use any steamed Asian greens, green beans or snow peas
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns (Shrimp)
Ingredients
- 500g / 1 lb prawns / shrimp, raw, , peeled and deveined (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola)
- 1 tsp sesame oil , toasted (Note 2)
- 3 garlic cloves , very finely minced
- 2 tsp ginger , grated or finely chopped (can be omitted)
- 1 tsp chilli flakes* (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 3 tbsp Sriracha (Note 4)
- 2 tsp soy sauce , light or all purpose (Note 5)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar (sub with white)
Garnish (optional)
- Sesame seeds
- Green onions , finely sliced
- Red chillies , finely sliced or chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add half the prawns and sear for about 45 seconds on each side until golden, then remove into bowl. Repeat.
- Remove skillet from stove to cool down slightly, turn down to medium.
- Return skillet to stove, heat sesame oil.
- Add garlic, ginger and chilli flakes. Cook until garlic turns golden.
- Add water, then Sriracha, soy sauce and sugar, Stir, increase heat to medium high, and let it simmer for 3 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken to a thin syrup consistency.
- Return prawns into skillet and toss to coat in sauce and reheat, and cook for 1 – 2 minutes until sauce is reduced and coats the prawns nicely.
- Garnish with sesame seeds, fresh chilli and shallots if desired. Serve with rice to soak up the awesome sauce! (Low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice) Side salad suggestions in post.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2016. Rewritten in May 2019, new photos, brand new video, and new Life of Dozer photos!
Life of Dozer
Another snap from the Mother’s Day weekend away to Rick Stein’s Bannisters Hotel in Port Stephens.
Contemplating the meaning of life as he gazes at the sun rise over the infinity pool….
OK, we all know that’s not true. He’s more likely wondering how much trouble he’d get in if he dove in. I don’t think the other hotel guests would appreciate swimming in a sea of Dozer’s golden fur! 😂
And from the original publish date in 2016: The vet said to figure out a way to stop him from licking his injured paw. So I did. 😉
If you enjoyed my Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns (Shrimp), I think you’ll LOVE……
My Mongolian Beef – crispy beef tossed in a fabulous sticky sauce!
My Asian Glazed Salmon with a glorious sticky glaze!
Or to serve on the side, how about Chinese Fried Rice?
Wonderful recipe to simulate restaurant sauces and take-aways. I used frozen giant king prawns from Marks and Spencers as they are guaranteed responsibly sourced and not from the areas operating slave-ships around Sri Lanka and China Seas. These prawns are from Honduras or Canada or Greenland in the Atlantic. None of the peeling and cooking hassle. The sauce didn’t quite thicken enough but probably because I use less sugar as it’s better for you!
I did as another reader did here and thickened with cornstarch and water paste. Dried Chilli flakes and a little Jamaican chilli sauce made the heat just right. Good to see no MSG featuring in the ingredients – The flavour was so authentic and delightful that it could be made without MSG (used ad nauseam by so many Chinese Take Aways and Restaurants). You don’t need flavour-enhancers when you the ingredients have enough super taste of their own. So I give this dish 5 stars and it’s going to be one of my regular recipes. Thank you for posting it up. Great stuff.
Thanks for the tips on the prawns Jeremy! And for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x
This was really yummy, I added some rice wine vinegar and honey to offset the heat. Thickened with a little cornstarch and it took no more than 10 minutes. Steamed broccoli and ate with cauliflower rice.
That’s terrific to hear Shari! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
This is absolutely amazing! Made the recipe with pre marinted garlic prawns from Woolies and 2 extra garlic cloves. Absolutely delicious!! Thank you!
Fantastic to hear! Always wondered about those pre marinated prawns at Woolies! N xx
Hi Nagi, I love, love, love your site and have thought everything I’ve tried so far has been 5 stars terrific! That said, last night I made your Asian Chile garlic prawns, and my lips and throat are still burning. My hubby and I consider ourselves pretty food heat experienced and tolerant, but we could not eat this – and, we really wanted to! I followed your recipe exactly (only using 1teaspoon red pepper flakes) and served with baby bok choy – what a great way to steam it!!) – and ramen.
I’ll try this again, but with no red pepper or sriracha. I’m thinking of using sesame chili oil to impart some heat.
Thanks for all your wonderful ideas. I think Dozer is super dog!
Hi Mary Lou, I’m sorry this was too spicy for you! Do you know if you used a stock-standard type red pepper flakes?? And not a speciality type that’s crazy spicy?? I actually made this fairly recently and while spicy, didn’t find it was “blow your head off” spicy! N xx
Hi Nagi, thanks for your response. I used just regular “off the shelf” red pepper flakes, but there were probably more seeds than flakes. Do you know if there are any commercial “flake only” pepper offerings? One other thing is that I’m not really a fan of sriracha on anything.
Hi Mary Lou! Well, the heat in peppers is certainly in the seeds so I’m thinking that may have been the problem! I haven’t heard of any flake only red pepper, but that’s a great idea!! 🙂 N x
Absolutely delicious and so easy! I saved this recipe! So good!
That’s terrific to hear Laurie! Thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x
I recently found your site and this is the first recipe I tried. I made it earlier in the week and it came out fantastic, restaurant quality. My 13 year old son’s, who is not a big shrimp fan, first words after trying it were “make this again. Looking forward to trying other recipes
That’s terrific to hear David! So glad you and your son enjoyed this, thank you for letting me know! N x
This is restaurant quality amazing and it’s made with such accessible ingredients, this could work equally well with meat too I believe.
Seriously, you bossed it with this recipe Nagi.
I’m so happy you enjoyed this Mia! Thank you for letting me know – N x ❤️
My fiance is allergic to seafood, so I tried this dish using chicken drumsticks instead. He absolutely loved it! The sauce is incredibly delicious…I made long french green beans as a side and he dipped those into the glaze as well. I’m a bit of an inexperienced cook, so I’m always searching for ideas and I look forward to trying more of your recipes!
I’m so pleased to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on this recipe 🙂 N xx
I made this dish last night. It was sooooo good. My husband and I both love this very much. Your notes help a lot. Thank you very much, NAGI !!! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes…………. 🙂
That’s fantastic to hear Lisa! Thank you for letting me know – N xx
Well we just thoroughly enjoyed these, we already had some cooked prawns from the trawlers so simply added them at end, to warm them through, thnx for that recipe next time we will add rice n bok Choy yum yum.
That’s wonderful to hear Joe, thank you for letting me know! Hope you are having a lovely weekend – N xx
Can you please do a creamy garlic prawn recipe next!? 🤗
Hi Fadi! Added to the list!!! PS If you can’t wait though, just add a splash of cream right at the end after the wine has mostly evaporated 🙂 It’s so SO good! N xx
Hi Nagi,
I just recently became aware of your website. Your recipes look fabulous!! I love entertaining and can’t wait to try these recipes. The next time I have friends over for dinner, I’m going to make the Asian Chilli Garlic Shrimp. I would like to know if this dish is really hot because some of my friends like mildly spicy food. Thanks Nagi!
Hi Linda! I don’t consider this very hot, it’s mild. And actually, though I like to think I’m tough when it comes to spice, I’m actually not! 🙂
We made this tonight and woweee, it was super spicy with 2 Tbls of Sriracha. I followed your note to leave out the red chili peppers if I was concerned about the heat, so I did and it was still super spicy. Maybe my husband and I are wimpy, but what if I were to cut it back to one Tbls of Sriracha. Could I add a little rice vinegar and maybe some Mirin to offset the lack of Sriracha that has that vinegar tang? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Really loved the flavors and would like to figure out how to lesson the spice.
Hi Cynthia! I’m sorry to hear you thought this was too spicy. Try reducing the sriracha down to 1 tbsp which is not very much across 300g of prawns, and add 1 tsp of rice vinegar. 🙂
So yummy
So glad you enjoyed it Mark! Thanks for taking the time to come back and share your thoughts on this recipe! – N x
I’ll be trying your Mongolian Beef next 🙂
Oooh i LOVE the Mongolian Beef! The recipe is from one of my favourite Chinese blogs 🙂
What’s not to love about this dish!! It’s quick, easy, hardly any prep required, tasty and spicy – just my kind of food! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Phyllis! I actually made this into noodles the other day too, SO GOOD! N xx
I made the shrimps last night and they tasted just like they would have at an Asian restaurant. I am planning to have one day in the week dedicated to Chinese/Thai recipes from your blog cause everything I have made so far has been so yummy and quick to make!
I’m so glad to hear that Aarti! Thank you for letting me know! N x
Tried it last night – 5stars
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Andy, thanks so much for trying it!! Did it remind you of prawns like what you get at modern Thai restaurants??? 🙂 N x
I was looking for the recipe for Szechwan Shrimp which usually use some ketchup. But instead I tried your recipe. It was so easy to make yet very tasty. I was skeptical about using Frank sauce instead of Sriracha but it worked fine. Thank you for sharing this recipe, Nagi.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Junko! I have a big soft spot for this 🙂 Thank you for coming back to let me know! N x
Had friends invite themselves over the other night. Needed to come up with a few quick appitizers. Made these twice. My man ate most of the first batch. So good! Guests wanted my secret recipe. Gave your site all the praise.
I’m so glad to hear you and your friends (and man!) enjoyed this Jan! Thank you so much for letting me know! N x
Made the shrimps yesterday, super easy & super tasty. Though next time we’ll use 1tbsp sriracha to start with (we’re whimps, I know) ? Could not find Chinese broccoli, so used bok choy instead. Worked like a charm. Lovely combo with the shrimps. Once again your recipe is a keeper!
This does have a bit of a kick to it!!! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed it though…..hope your lips were tingling for too long after it!!!