Freshwater Prawns in Tomalley and Shrimp Paste

The Good:

First of all, THANK YOU so very much for all your wonderful and engaging comments on my last post. It’s really great to know that I’m not the only one feeling those feelings about blogging, and it felt really good to get it out. There’s just one last thing I want to get off my mind and I promise, no more blogging complaining from me.

“Comments”, is it an evil word? It can be if you go about it the wrong way. It took me quite some time into blogging until I finally learned to let go of the “comment game”. I now only comment cause I want to, not because I feel I have to.  I’m sure a lot of you have seen me comment on your blogs even though you have not commented on mine every time I post. The truth is, I don’t comment to get a comment in return. I’m there because I really love reading your blogs. So thank you to those of you who continue to visit me (even if you don’t comment), I really do appreciate it. I believe commenting can be a great way to get to know the blogger. And if you’re like me and am there to learn, ask questions. Most bloggers will be happy to answer your questions.I’ve actually made some sincere friendships through blogging and commenting.  All right, that’s it, that’s the last of blogging complaining you’ll hear from me (at least for a while).

The Bad:

Yup, that’s my shattered iPhone. Had it in my shirt pocket, bent down to help L put on his shoes and the next thing I know, my phone is on the floor. The dumb thing was that I had just taken off the invisible shield too… ARGH!!!!! So I put plastic wrap on it hoping to hold it together till I can get it fixed or get a new one.

And The Yummy:

Now onto something that always makes me happy, SEAFOOD! I’m a huge seafood lover, so when my Mom makes any kind of seafood dish, I watch her like a hawk and I try to learn. The problem with learning recipes from my Mom is that she never uses exact measurements. When I ask her how much of a specific ingredient she puts in, she always replies with, “”Just add in however much you want and then taste it.” That drives me nuts. Anyone else have this problem? Anyways, here is another dish I learned at my parents’ house but haven’t had time to post until now.

Freshwater Prawns in Tomalley and Shrimp Paste:

We used large freshwater prawns . There were about eight frozen prawns in this box. 

Warning: If you’re squeamish about “dissecting” a prawn, you may want to scroll past the next 5 or 6 pictures. 

Each prawn was about the size of my palm.

These guys were already frozen, dead and defrosted, or else I would never have the guts to do what my Dad is about to do. Plus it would just be inhumane.

Start by cutting diagonally downward away from the body at the top of the pointy blade on the prawn.

This pouch you see inside the head, that’s what you’ll want to discard. That’s the waste bag.

Peel the shell off of the rest of the head that’s still attached to the body. Under that, you’ll find this orange stuff, which is the prawn tomalley. If you’ve seen or heard of people sucking the heads of shrimps/prawns (I know, it sounds gross), this is exactly what they’re trying to get out. This is probably the most cherished part of the prawn. Another one of those either you love it or you hate it things. I love it.

Squeeze out the tomalley into a bowl and set aside for later use.

Use a pair of sharp scissors and trim off the front legs.

Once the legs have been trimmed off, peel off the shell from the body.

We left the shell of the tails on for better appearance. You can definitely peel them off if you prefer to. Next, cut a slit down the middle of the back of the body and devein. Repeat with the rest of the prawns.  We also added some shrimp to this dish.

Heat up a wok on high heat. Wait until wok is HOT and add in oil. Once oil is hot, add in garlic. As the garlic is just about to brown, add in prawns. 

Sprinkle a dash of sugar on each prawn and shrimp. Flip and leave to brown for about a minute per side. Add in sesame oil. Give prawns a toss.  

Add in tomalley, shrimp paste, and fish sauce. Give prawns a couple more tosses to mix up the ingredients.

This is the shrimp paste my parents used.

I prefer this brand: (the small can out in front). I find it more flavorful as it has garlic and different spices mixed in. You should be able to get shrimp paste from any Asian grocery store.

Both shrimp pastes have quite a bit of oil in them so if you want, you can leave out the sesame oil or use less of it. Here’s mine and the kiddies’ dish of prawns.

My parents continued with their share and added a dish of leftover belly pork that they had the day before. 

Trust me, you don’t want to be eating this every day. Once in a while I think is okay though. Look at that pork.

I have to admit, their dish does look much better than mine.

Sorry I don’t have exact measurements, but that’s the way my mom cooks. Next time I try this on my own, I’ll get exact measurements. I’d probably also use onions to add more flavor to the dish.

We’re off to beautiful Vancouver with our guests from Vietnam for the Thanksgiving long weekend. Vancouver is one of my favorite Canadian cities to visit, especially for the food. I’ll catch up with all your blogs when I get back because a true vacation to me is time spent with my family not having to worry about anything but eating…teeeheee. I hope all my Canadian readers (and anyone else celebrating Thanksgiving next week) have a very Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy quality time with your family.

If you like seafood, what’s your favorite seafood? I LOVE lobster! Before I leave, I just want to mention that one of my favorite bloggers, Lynn over at The Actor’s Diet has just opened up her new online store with some pretty cool merchandise. The talented artwork on those merchandise were created by Cindy K. Shaw, a fellow blogger and very talented artist over at Miscellaneous Musings.  That’s it for this week, until next time, friends and family :-D.