Chinese New Year dishes are as delicious as they are auspicious and symbolic. Long noodles for longevity. Whole fish, with head and tail, for a good beginning and ending to the New Year. The sweet and layered Nian Gao 年糕 (Chinese New Year cake) for a sweet, rich year, with layers of growing abundance. Whole chicken for family togetherness. Chinese gold ingot shaped wontons for a year of wealth.
Just as the appearance and ingredients of a Chinese New Year dish have a special meaning attached, so does the sound of the Chinese word for it. In Penang, where we speak a mix of Chinese dialects (Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, and more), these play on words and sounds are extracted from multiple languages, as is the case with a dish I just cooked up – Pineapple Prawns
Pineapple is pronounced as ‘Ong Lai’ in the Chinese dialect of Hokkien. The same sound of ‘Ong Lai’ is used when a Hokkien reads the two Chinese characters that mean prosperity will come. Therefore, to a Hokkien, a pineapple represents prosperity 旺来. In Cantonese, prawn (shrimp) is pronounced as ‘Har’, which is homophonous with the word ‘laughter’ 笑哈哈. So for Cantonese, prawns represent happiness.
Put it together and you have not only a delicious and festive dish, but one that will make you prosperous and happy in the New Year!
Cooked Malaysian-Chinese style, the Pineapple Prawn dish combines fresh pineapple with garlic, ginger and red chili pepper to complement the fragrant pan-fried prawns. A vibrant flavor of sweet, spicy, garlicky seafood goodness, with a squeeze of calamansi lime to top it off. A Chinese New Year dish in the tropics.
Enjoy a sizzling hot plate of Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Prawns 金虾报喜that promises you lots of laughter (‘siu har har’ 笑哈哈), prosperity & a happy belly!
Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Prawns recipe
Ingredients
- 12 medium-sized prawns – cleaned deveined and trimmed
- 4 cloves garlic – minced
- 1/2 tbsp ginger – minced
- 1/3 cup fresh pineapples – diced
- Half a serrano red chili – seeded and minced
- Fresh cilantro or Chinese parsley – for garnish
For the seasoning:
- 2 tbsp plum sauce or chili sauce*
- Juice of one calamansi lime or substitute with a normal lime wedge
- 1-2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 teaspoons water for thickening the sauce
- Salt and white pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up 2 tbsp oil and then pan-fry the prawns until just cooked. Set aside.
- Heat up 1 tbsp oil in the same pan, and sauté ginger and garlic until aromatic. Add in the pineapple and red chili, and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Then toss in the cooked prawns and mix evenly with the sauce.
- Add seasoning and stir-fry over high heat for half a minute. Dish out, and garnish with some cilantro leaves or Chinese parsley. Serve warm with rice.