Prawn Rangoons

If you visited my blog a couple of days ago you would have seen that I’m working together with Kiri Cream Cheese to bring you a couple of delicious recipes! I started by making creamy and decadent Frozen Strawberry Cream and today I’m going to share my recipe for Kiri Prawn Rangoons.

Yes, I know I started with a dessert, but in my world, I think all meals should start with dessert followed by the main! If I ever open a restaurant again that’s how the menu is going to work 🙂

To be honest, I have never made Prawn Rangoons before, I’ve stuffed my face with them so I was quite excited to fry them up in my own house so that I could take the whole platter and pretty much eat them all!

These parcels of goodness are crispy on the outside and stuffed with luscious prawn, smooth cream cheese and all the saltiness and goodness of soy, Worcestershire sauce and spring onion.

The only slightly time-consuming part is the folding, but I kind of enjoyed the whole process, it was therapeutic in a way.

I also made my own sweet chilli sauce for this recipe, if you’d like to have a crack at that too the recipe is at the bottom of this post. PS: It came out so nicely, way better than store-bought sweet chilli sauce and so not at all fussy to make. It’s also quite nice to be able to brag that you made your own sauce. If you are that way inclined. I am.

PS: I’m still running a super cool giveaway on my Instagram feed where you can win a yummy Kiri Cream Cheese hamper as well as a R3000 Le Creuset voucher. I’ll be choosing a winner this Friday the 5th of July 2019 so enter quick.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE RAGOONS:

• 2 x 200 grams tubs of Kiri Cream Cheese at room temperature
• 400 grams pre-cooked prawns, peeled and deveined – I used medium sized ones.
• ½ cup of thinly sliced spring onion
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon  cracked black pepper and a sprinkling of salt
• 1 package Wonton Wrappers – I bought these from a local Chinese supermarket. Make sure you get the square shaped ones.
• Canola oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place your prawns in a food processor and pulse until they are coarsely chopped then add in your Kiri Cream Cheese, green onion, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and salt. Pulse this mixture until everything is nicely incorporated. Remove it from the food processor and put it into a bowl.
2. Get out your wonton wrappers, make sure you have a small glass of water close by. Place a heaped teaspoon of the mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Using your finger brush the edges of the wonton with water, then fold it into either a triangle, a purse shape or a slightly more elaborate parcel like the ones below.
3. *For the folded version below, all you have to do is fold the filled wrapper in half to form a triangle, then bring the bottom corners together to finish the fold. A little water acts as the “glue” to keep the wontons sealed tight so they don’t fall apart as they cook. For the purse shaped ones, I brushed water all around the edges and then formed a little parcel before pinching the top of the wonton together to close it.
4. The easiest shape to make is a triangle. But with all these shapes remember to try to remove as much air from them as possible so that only the mixture is enclosed in the wrapper. Then gently press the edges to seal.
5. Heat your oil in a small pot until it reaches about 180°C, I had my heat set to medium-high so about a 5 on my stove top.
6. Slowly add in your wontons, but be careful not to bunch them up. I cooked 4 at a time. Fry them until they are a nice, golden brown colour. These DO NOT take very long to fry so keep an eye on them.
7. Remove the finished rangoons from the oil with a slotted spoon and place them onto a plate that you’ve lined with a paper towel.
8. They’re really nice served immediately. So onto a platter and into your mouth! Enjoy.

INGREDIENTS FOR SWEET CHILLI SAUCE:

• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp white sugar
• 4 garlic cloves chopped finely
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce 
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• A generous 2 1/2 Tbsp sambal oelek – can be bought at pretty much any major supermarket
• 4 tsp cornflour
• 2 Tbsp water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add the vinegar, water, sugar, garlic cloves, soy sauce, and cayenne pepper into a non-stick pan.
2. Heat over medium heat while stirring, to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes. 
3. Add the sambal oelek and mix through. Let it cook for a few minutes until it thickens slightly about 2- 5 minutes.
4. Mix the cornstarch and water in a cup and then add it to the sauce.
5. While stirring frequently (to prevent the sauce from burning), simmer the sauce for a further 2 – 5 minutes or until it reaches the desired thickness. Remember, the sauce thickens as it cools as well. If it thickens too much, add a little extra water to thin it out. 
6. Pour into a glass jar with an air-tight lid.
7. Cool to room temperature then store in the fridge.