Udang goreng kunyit is a quick and easy stir-fried dish of prawns (shrimp) flavoured with turmeric. Perfect as a quick side or part of an elaborate spread.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Udang Goreng Kunyit
This is going to be a quick post, as there’s not much to talk about. Before we get started, let’s take a look at the name, shall we?
- Udang = prawns/shrimp
- Goreng = to fry/fried
- Kunyit = turmeric
So udang goreng kunyit = fried prawns with turmeric, or fried turmeric prawns.
The Recipe
It’s a very, very easy recipe to make, using the most basic of ingredients, and done in minutes. Let’s take a look.
- Marinate the prawns with turmeric and salt while you get everything ready.
- Slice/chop all ingredients.
- Fry the aromatics for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the prawns and cook for about 5 minutes if without shell. Will shell, 7 – 10 minutes.
- Finish off your udang goreng kunyit with lime juice.
Want to make it spicy? Either increase the number of chillies or add 1 teaspoon or tablespoon of any chilli paste, like cili boh, sambal balado or sambal oelek (recipe on LinsFood). Look out for our homemade cili boh recipe next!
Prawns – Shell on, or Off?
Prawns are what we call shrimp in the UK nad many parts of the world, in case you’re wondering. Shrimp, to us, are the very small prawns.
So do we cook udang goreng kunyit with shell on or off? If the prawns are meant to be the star of the dish, I prefer to use shell on prawns. If they’re a small part of a bigger recipe, like when adding them to fried rice or noodles, then shell off is best.
So in the recipe here, you can see that I’m using prawns with shell still on. However, I would suggest cooking this recipe without the shell. Why? Because of all that turmeric, if you’re using your hands to peel the prawns, you’ll end up with yellow nails which will take days to clear!
How to Serve Udang Goreng Kunyit?
You can serve these turmeric prawns as they are, for a simple meal, with perhaps some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. Or, you can serve it as part of a bigger spread.
So you could have some rice, sayur lemak and udang goreng kunyit. Or bayam masak lemak with these prawns. Our dalcha with lamb chops will also go splendidly with today’s prawn recipe.
And there you have it. I told ya it was going to be super short and sweet! Let me know how it goes.
If you enjoy the recipe, drop me a comment and let me know. Feeling like a star? Don’t forget that 5-star rating! Thank you!
If you make this recipe, post it on Instagram and tag me @azlinbloor and hashtag it #linsfood.
Lin xx
Udang Goreng Kunyit (Stir-Fried Prawns with Turmeric)
Ingredients
- 200 g prawns shrimp (300g if shell on)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 shallot
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1-2 red chillies
- 1 lemongrass
- 100 g green beans
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Finish
- lime juice
- freshly ground black pepper to increase the viability of the curcumin in the turmeric
Instructions
- Marinate the prawns with the turmeric and salt, while you get everything ready. If you like, you could leave them marinating for 30 minutes to an hour, to allow the turmeric to do more magic.200 g prawns, ¼ tsp salt
- Peel, halve, then slice the shallot thinly.Finely chop the garlic.Slice the red chilli thinly.Bruise the lemongrass. Click here to learn how to bruise a lemongrass.1 shallot, 2 cloves garlic, 1-2 red chillies, 1 lemongrass
- Slice the green beans diagonally. This is how we always slice green beans to allow more surface area to absorb flavours. Besides, it looks prettier.100 g green beans
- Heat the oil on medium heat and fry the shallots for 1 minute.2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Add the garlic, chillies and lemongrass and cook for 30 seconds.
- Tip in the prawns, along with any juices that might be in the bowl. Stir everything together, then spread the prawns out to allow them all to touch the pan. Leave undisturbed for 2 minutes. The will allow the prawns to char slightly while cooking, which adds to the flavour.
- Add the green beans, stir again, turning the prawns over to cook the other side. Flip the prawns individually if you can be bothered, but don't worry too much about this.Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes until the prawns are cooked through. If your prawns have still got their shells on, cook for about 7 – 10 minutes, depending on their size.Because this is a dry stir-fry, with hardly any liquid in the pan, the prawns will take a little longer than usual. Had we had some liquid, it would take us only about 3 minutes to cook the prawns.
- Turn the heat off and squeeze some lime juice all over, followed by a light sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately with pieces of lime for everyone to add more juice.lime juice, freshly ground black pepper