Mongolian Prawns (Shrimp)

Make this Mongolian Shrimp featuring a sweet, spicy, and savory sauce. There's no batter, so its lower in calories and it comes together in under 30 minutes.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 409kcal

Author Kim

Ingredients

For the Shrimp Marinade:

500 grams /1 pound Raw large Prawns or Shrimp peeled and deveined
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or dry sherry
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic minced

For the Mongolian Sauce: double

¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons sugar free maple syrup
2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce adjust to your spice preference
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

For Cooking:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup onion diced
½ cup red capsicum/bell pepper diced
2 green onions chopped (white and green parts separated)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted (optional, for garnish)

Other

2 cups Jasmine rice (cooked)

Instructions

Marinate Prawns/Shrimp: In a medium-sized bowl or plastic bag, combine all the shrimp marinade ingredients (soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic). Add the peeled and deveined shrimp, toss to coat well, and let it marinate for about 15-20 minutes.
Prepare Sauce: In a separate bowl, mix all the Mongolian sauce ingredients together (hoisin sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey, chili garlic sauce, and chicken or vegetable broth). Set the sauce aside for later.
Cook Prawns/Shrimp: Heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the marinated shrimp (discard the marinade) and stir-fry until they turn pink and are cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the wok and set them aside.
Add Onions, Capsicums/Peppers: In the same wok, add another tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the sliced onions and capsicum/red bell pepper, stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes until they become translucent and slightly tender.
Add Sauce: Pour the Mongolian sauce into the wok, stirring continuously to coat the vegetables. Let the sauce simmer for 2-3 minutes. This is a thin sauce. If you’d like to make it thicker, make a slurry by mixing 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water until no lumps remain. Add the slurry to the sauce while mixing, let simmer until it thickens.
Add Prawns back in: Return the cooked shrimp to the wok, tossing them with the sauce and vegetables until everything is well coated and heated through.
Garnish & Serve: Sprinkle the chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds (if using) on top of the Mongolian shrimp for garnish. Serve the Mongolian shrimp over ½ cup of Jasmine rice per serve.

Notes

Use Fresh Prawns or Shrimp: you'll definitely get a better result using fresh uncooked prawns over cooked prawns as they will take on much more flavour. You can use frozen uncooked prawns, just make sure they are defrosted with the moisture drained before putting into the marinade.
Marinate Time: Allow the shrimp to marinate for at least 15-20 minutes. This helps infuse the flavors and tenderize the shrimp.
Sweetness: If you can't find sugar free maple surup, you can use the same amount of granulated sweetener that measures like sugar. My favorite one is the brown or golden Monkfruit that looks like brown sugar! Its available in the baking aisle of supermarkets.
Spiciness: I also used a garlic chili oil, but you could easily substitute that with garlic cloves and red pepper flakes for the same effect. Adding a little extra freshly grated ginger also works well.

Nutrition