Vegan Honey Prawns

I had been craving Honey Prawns lately, they were one of my favourites to get as a kid at the local Chinese restaurant. I found a recipe online that was easy enough to make GF and vegan! Original recipe from Recipe Tin Eats. I made the recipe with vegan prawns and with tofu and they both came out great!

Vegan Honey Prawns

Ingredients

300g vegan prawns or tofu (frozen and then thawed works best)

1/2 tsp kosher/cooking salt (halve for table salt)

Dredging:

1/2 cup corn flour/cornstarch

Ultra-crispy fry batter:

9 Tbsp corn flour/cornstarch 

6 Tbsp GF flour (I used rice flour)

1/2 tsp baking powder (NOT baking soda)

1/2 tsp salt , kosher/cooking (h1/4 tsp table salt)

2/3 cup + COLD soda water, club soda or seltzer water 

Oil, for frying:

3 - 4 cups vegetable or canola oil (1.5" depth in a pot)

Honey Sauce (Note 8 on sweetness):

1/3 cup vegan honey (or just use thicker corn syrup/golden syrup)

1.5 Tbsp agave or corn syrup (light) 

1 Tbsp GF soy sauce 

2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (or mirin)

Garnish / serving:

Cooked rice 

Sesame seeds, finely sliced green onions

Method 

Place 1/2 cup cornstarch in a bowl. 

Dip prawn/tofu chunks in, shake off excess then put on a plate. Repeat with all prawns/tofu.

For Batter: Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a bowl. 

Place in fridge while oil heats up. 

Heat oil: Fill small pot or large saucepan with 4cm / 1.7" oil. 

Heat to 160°C/320°F on medium high stove.

Make cold batter: When the oil is near target temp, add soda water into the dry ingredients. 

Then do the minimum whisks to just combine (10 or so) - a few lumps ok, better than whisking too much (changes coating texture).

Batter thickness: Should fully coat prawns easily, not be see-through, but not thick and heavy.  

Use extra soda water 1 teaspoon at a time to achieve right thickness.

Dredge: Holding a prawn by the tail, dip into the batter then hold up for a 2 seconds to let the excess batter drip off. Then carefully place in oil. Repeat with another 5 prawns/tofu chunks (6 per batch).

Cook for 3 minutes until light golden and crispy. When you pick them up, you can tell it's very crispy.

Drain and repeat: Place prawns/tofu chunks on a tray with paper towels. 

Repeat with remaining prawns/tofu chunks. 

Don't crowd the pot as it brings oil temperature down too much.

Cool prawns.

Honey Sauce: Place ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. 

Bring to simmer, turn down stove to medium low then leave to simmer for 3 minutes.

The consistency should be like maple syrup. 

Turn off stove, place lid on to keep warm (when cool, it gets too thick to toss prawns in it).

Transfer prawns to a metal bowl then pour over Honey Sauce. Quickly toss with rubber spatula to coat prawns in sauce. (Sauce starts thickening if you take too long, so be quick!)

Pile prawns over rice, scatter with sesame seeds, green onion and serve!