Filipinos love using soy sauce ("toyo") and "calamansi", a citrus fruit we tend to use instead of lemon, in everything. We use it to marinate our barbecued meats and seafood, stewed meats, cured meats and if that's not enough we also use it as a dipping sauce (aka "toyomansi").
Whenever I go home to Manila and have had more pork than I usually consume in a month, which happens within a matter of days, this is the dish I have to help me "detox." Well, sort of. I think detoxing in Manila is next to impossible until you physically fly out of the country. Filipinos love to eat and show their love by relentlessly offering you all manner of temptations around the clock.
I don't really know if there's a proper name for this dish because, as I said, Filipinos use soy sauce and calamansi on so many things. I figure describing the dish as accurately as I can is the way to go in naming it
This dish goes well with some simple sauteed snow peas or green beans.
Ingredients:
1 dozen whole king prawns, heads and shells intact, about 440 g
1 T chopped garlic
4 T light soy sauce
1/2 t dark soy sauce
2 T fresh lemon juice
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
3 T olive oil
Method:
Using a small sharp knife, make a slit along the back of the prawn and remove the dark vein. If you want to butterfly the prawns, you can cut all the way through the belly side of the prawns. I've left the heads intact because they add a lot to the flavour of this dish.
In a small bowl, combine garlic, soy sauces, lemon juice and some freshly cracked pepper. Place prawns in a shallow non-metallic tray and drizzle with marinade, making sure all the prawns are well coated. Marinate for 10-15 minutes. Drain.
Heat 1 T of olive in a large fry pan over medium heat. Fry half of the prawns about 1 minute on each side. Add some oil if the pan looks dry. Place prawns in a serving dish. Repeat for remainder of the prawns.
Optional: drizzle prawns with extra virgin olive oil or melted butter; or, if you love garlic like the Filipinos, fry about 1 T of chopped garlic in some olive oil or butter until they're golden brown and drizzle it over the prawns.
Serves 4.
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