Steamed “Drunken Prawns” in Chinese Wine
Drunken prawns (醉虾) is a dish which is unbelievably cheap and easy to prepare at home, but if you were to order it at the restaurant, be prepared to pay at least three times (but usually more) more than it would cost you to prepare it at home. Seafood is always so expensive when it is ordered outside.
If you think that it’s cruel to use live prawns, you can substitute with non-live ones. In my opinion, the key to delicious drunken prawns is to “marinade” them when they are still alive. My (unproven) theory of why Chinese restaurants use live prawns, is that the prawns will ingest some of the wine, hence the wine aroma is deep within the prawns, else the aroma of the Chinese wine is kind of on the surface only. In the case of live prawns, I think the taste is more distinct and sweeter.
If you are looking for affordable live prawns in Singapore, refer to this post 
Ingredients
(Serves 2)- 10 live prawns (some call them shrimps)
- 3 tbsp Chinese wine (Hua Diao Jiu 花雕酒 or Shao Xing Jiu 绍兴酒)
- a handful of wolfberries
- 3 thick spring onion stalks (the bottom white part)
- 3 to 5 slices of ginger
- spring onions (cut to wispy thin strips) and corianderDirections
1. Place prawns in a deep vessel with lid (I use my 4.2l slow cooker pot).
2. Drizzle 2 tbsp Chinese wine over prawns and close the lid (because the prawns will jump :P)
3. Wait till the prawns have stopped jumping. This will take about 10 minutes or more.
4. Trim the feelers off the prawns, arrange them in a single layer on a steaming plate that has a bit of depth. Pour the marinating wine over.
5. Place spring onions stalks, ginger and wolfberries on top. Drizzle one more tbsp Chinese wine over the ingredients.
6. Steam till the prawns turn completely red (this takes only a few minutes – do not over cook). Garnish with spring onions strips and coriander.
“Marinating” the prawns “敬酒” 
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Whoa! These look really scrumptious! I cant eat them though bcos of my allergy to prawns, do u there’s a suitable substitute for these prawns?
make “drunken” chicken? steam chicken fillet (NOT live chicken please!) with some chinese wine heheh
Western people think this is cruel but I like this a lot, wish I could buy live seafood here in Switzerland. You are right this is very expensive to eat in the resto.
This is soooo good with live prawns!
敬酒? Need to say “Yum Seng” to the prawns or not? No, I am not being cruel.
hehe … saying yum seng will be too dramatic
ahh a perfect way to enjoy those fresh prawns! I wish I can get such fresh prawns here.
You said 2 magical words cheap and easy much better if it is a visual and yummy feast!
Cheers,
Gera
Yummy prawns.
Will try out this weekend. Thanks for sharing.
bat_mk
hope u like it! tell me how it goes
Ooh…sounds like a great dish if everyone that I eat with enjoys prawns! The drunkening of the prawns sounds like a great cool idea :). They would definitely get some great flavor from the cooking!
Eeek!! One of my favorite dishes is drunken chicken, never heard of drunken prawns. >.<;; Yes, yes…. thanks for sharing!!
well at least u r letting them drink their sorrows b4 you give them a sauna rite?
that’s a sobering thought
Is marinating wine (step no. 4) same as hua diao jiu?
yes, same as Shao Xing Jiu too
The amazing thing is how huge these prawns are. I wouldnt mind slurping on them at all!
Sounds delicious with the wolfberries and ginger!
They looks simply delicious!
And, aside from the wolfberries (which I don’t have), I will have no trouble making this dish. I won’t even have to wait for the prawns to stop jumping about, as the ones we get here on D.O.A.
Thanks dear NC for this recipe!
lol about the DOA prawns
Don’t worry, wolfberries are just a fancy touch which can be omitted. Hope you like the recipe dear 
Simple but very delicious! Like this kind of way of cooking the prawns!
I’ve never seen this technique before! I bet it’s delicious! Love the ginger in it!
Love the way you cook prawns.
Hi Wiffy,
Wow cool, yet I get kinda freaked out marinating things that are still moving. lol Before I was able to finish reading the comment about drunken chicken I cringed until I realized that the chickens are not live.lol silly me!
lol, silly u!!
so funny 
I love prawns, but not sure where to buy live prawns. I think I will just go ahead with normal dead but fresh prawns
Sounds good to me!
I love seafood so it is wiser to prepare them at home! Love this dish too!
yes seafood cooks quick and the raw ingredients aren’t expensive at all
I can’t do this with live prawns, I always pre-marinate chinese cooking wine (sometimes I use Martel) on dead but fresh prawns. During wedding dinners, will always keep some stomach space for this dish. But unfortunately, not many will serve this dish for their weddings now.
Yeah I seldom see this dish during Chinese weddings too. Usually they serve more fancy prawn dishes. I like the idea of using Martel.