Har Lok

Growing up, Har Lok was one of my favourite prawn dishes - a treat that my dad used to whip up on special occasions. Being one of the more popular dishes in Chinese restaurants back then, the dish was also synonymous with nights out with family and friends. There are slightly different versions of this dish but they all fundamentally have that spicy, garlicky flavour.

This is dad's version (and perhaps quite biasedly, my favourite one) of Har Lok. The simple recipe takes all of 20 minutes to whip up.

Ingredients:
Large prawns, cleaned
1 bulb garlic, chopped finely
Thumb-sized ginger, chopped finely
2 big red chillis, finely chopped
light soy sauce
dark soy sauce
sugar
salt
cornflour
oil

With a bit of oil, fry the prawns in a deep wok until they turn a nice shade of light pink.
Add a sprinkling of salt, give everything a good mix-through and remove from the wok.
Fry the ginger, garlic and chilli until fragrant.
Throw the prawns back into the mix and add light and dark soy sauce (I personally prefer to use the thicker, sweeter variety) as well as sugar - all to taste.
When the prawns are cooked through (and this should happen fairly quickly), dissolve a bit of cornstarch in cold water and add to the gravy.
Stir well, let the mixture bubble for about 2 minutes and you're ready to go!