When we talk about east Asian cuisine, the exotic flavors and aromatics of the far-east come rushing to our minds. This easy prawns on sugarcane recipe is yet another one of those succulent dishes which are a gift from Asian cuisine to the food world. Prawns on sugarcane is a traditional Vietnamese dish featuring mainly prawns and sugarcane, which might sound like an unusual combination but at the same time very unique with its salty and sweet flavors complementing each other. The world might have taken a shine to Vietnamese soupy Pho but the moment you taste these succulent prawns on sugarcane, a great appetizer recipe, you will fall head over heels for it.
Hailing from Central Vietnam, the shrimp skewers originated at the Imperial Palace, created by the royal cook in the palace kitchens to be served to the royal family. In a Vietnamese restaurant menu, you are sure to happen upon these sugarcane prawns, albeit the term used may be different, because they are indigenously known as Chao Tum, Chao Tom, or sugarcane shrimp skewers.
If you happen to visit charming Vietnam, you will come across roadside food stalls selling prawns on sugarcane both in the fried variety and the steamed ones that are grilled on charcoal making them crisp and smoky.
Or see all Seafood Recipes right here!
Crispy, bouncy on the outside with a tender core that’s brimming with flavor, these prawn batons are everything you would want for in your appetizer. Slightly salty with a hint of sweetness of the prawn meat and that of the caramelized sugar on the sugarcane sticks. The sugarcane sticks also contain the mildly sweet juice that keeps the inside of the baton moist and flavorful. The minced prawn meat is slightly umami, which is further accentuated by the added fish sauce, thus adding more dimension and depth to the succulent prawns on sugarcane.
This easy prawns and sugarcane skewers recipe does not require much processing. It is fairly simple to replicate using very few ingredients. All you need is some freshly sourced, deveined, and deshelled prawns and briefly soaked bean thread noodles. Frozen prawns would not give you the same results as fresh prawns in terms of taste and texture, therefore the latter is always preferred over the frozen variety. The two core prawn on sugarcane ingredients are ground in a food processor to form a paste that has a sticky texture. It is also important to keep the prawns very cold (not frozen) throughout the process to make sure the texture of the resulting paste turns out exactly as is required for the recipe.
The condiments and seasonings are then added and the process of covering the sugarcane sticks with the paste is followed as per the recipe. You can choose to either fry these batons/skewers or alternatively choose to grill them after steaming them in a steamer. These semi-ready skewers can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge for up to two days and served fried and crispy, straight out of the wok. In case, sourcing sugarcane stalks is difficult, then you may choose to use lemongrass or celery stalks as skewers. See our Easy Grilled Prawns on Lemongrass Skewers recipe. This will infuse the aromas from these herbs into the prawns and provide an edge to the recipe.
There are many ways to serve these Vietnamese prawns on sugarcane, the simplest of them all is to serve them as hors d’oeuvres - fried and juicy with the tart nuoc mam cham dip, the official Vietnamese dip to be served with Chao Tum. According to the Southeast Asian tradition of eating this delicacy, you can serve the prawn skewers with rice noodles and lettuce. All you need to do is wrap a prawn skewer in lettuce with rice noodles, bánh hỏi, and dip them in a complementary sauce and enjoy the delicate flavors. You have a choice of fish sauce dip, scallions in oil, sriracha, or Thai dipping sauce.
Indulge yourself with some white wine like a riesling alongside these tantalizing prawns on sugarcane skewers. The high acidity rieslings, characteristic of tropical fruity notes, complement these Vietnamese prawns very well.
Succulent prawns on sugarcane recipe - serve these juicy prawns on sugarcane skewers as an appetizer and you will run out of them pretty fast. Follow the step