Buttered Prawns Recipe

My family and I love to go to the palutuan restaurants at Seaside in Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City. We normally go there to celebrate events... or even non-events-- sometimes having dinner there is THE event. You can order from their menu for a more relaxing meal or if you want to do your own shopping in the market outside for one reason of another, that is great, too. Seaside's market offers the best and freshest selection of seafood you can imagine. The trick there is in the picking and of course, haggling.

Our favorite resto there is Shylin. I think they have about three branches there. I guess we are not the only ones that likes their food. One of my personal favorites in their menu is the buttered shrimps. I first tasted this dish in Shylin's sister palutuan restaurant at Dampa in Paranaque City. It was excellent. Whenever we order buttered shrimps, I am the one who always end up with the plate with a mountain of shrimp peels. I have gotten pretty good at peeling shrimps with a fork and spoon, thanks to this addictive dish.


I have tried to make this in my own kitchen using prawns, but of course, you can use shrimps, too. I cannot claim to have copied Shylin's buttered shrimps recipe, but I must say I was able to concoct a good enough knock off. So, on the days when I have a craving for these buttered shrimps but cannot go to Paranaque or Pasay for my fix, I make my own. Here's my recipe:

Buttered Prawns

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo prawns
juice of 3 calamansi (Philippine citrus)
1 tbsp. rock salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
2-3 stalks green onion, minced
dash of hot chili sauce
1/2 c unsalted butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp. Kikkoman soy sauce

Procedure:

Rinse prawns and cut off whiskers. Season prawns with calamansi juice and salt.

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet and saute garlic, onion, and onion stalk (reserve about a tablespoon for garnish). Add prawns and right after it turns pink, add chili sauce, unsalted butter, sugar, and Kikkoman.

Reduce heat and let the prawns cook through, about 10 minutes. Do not overcook prawns otherwise they will turn hard and even harder to peel. Garnish with remaining green onions before serving.