During Chinese New Year, the most auspicious, traditional or extravagant dishes are put on the dinner table, and in most cases, they are repeated year after year, with little variation. When that happens, even the most elaborate meal could become stale, albeit only eaten once a year.

So in this coming festive month, why not spring a surprise by whipping up something completely new on top of your family’s customary fare?

We propose Roasted Chestnut and Prawn Roll. If you have never heard of it, that’s because it’s not available in restaurants or commonly prepared at home.

The recipe was conceived about 10 years ago, by the late chef of Peng’s Catering upon request by Makansutra to cook up something off-menu.

He pounded some roasted chestnuts, wrapped the prawns with it and then sent them for deep-frying. The outcome was a pleasant surprise – the chestnut was crumbly and sweet while the prawn was crunchy.

But this Teochew dish never did flourish. The chef, for some unknown reason, did not put it in his menu so it became a fading memory in the last decade – until we decided to revive it in the Makansutra kitchen.

We did it with a little twist though – adding a layer of bean curd skin for its light saltiness and crispiness, and introducing a sour plum dip to borrow moisture, tanginess and spiciness.

With that, this dish is a confluence of flavours and textures, symbolising the unpredictable journey of life. As the family devours the dish, it means that they take on all the good and bad fortunes together as one.

Ingredients

20 Prawns Egg white from 2 eggs 350g of Roasted Chestnuts Bean Curd Skin A pinch of salt, or to taste 20 Satay Sticks Cooking oil

Sauce 1 Mandarin Orange 2tbsp Plum Sauce 2 ChilliPadi, seeded and chopped

Method

De-shell (leave the tail) and de-vein the prawns.

Pierce the prawn with a satay stick, from the tail through the body to straighten the crustacean. Repeat this step on the rest of the prawns.

Boil a pot of hot water.

Blanch the prawns for about 10 seconds, or remove once they turn red.

Remove the chestnuts from their shell. Use a mortar and pestle to pound them into rough powdery form. Transfer them into a bowl. Mix the egg white (set aside 1 tbsp for later use) with the pounded chestnuts.

Spoon out a heap of the mixture and place in on your palm. Flatten it. Place the prawn on it and clench your fist to wrap the chestnut around the prawn.

Repeat this step on the remaining prawns.

Wipe the bean curd skin with a clean wet cloth to remove excess salt. Cut it into 20 pieces, each one about 10cm by 10cm big.

Tightly wrap the prawn with a bean curd skin, leaving the tail jutting out. Pull out the satay stick.

Fold in the top and bottom end and tap both sides with a little egg white to seal the closure. Repeat the step on the remaining prawns.

Heat up enough cooking oil for deep frying. Once the oil is ready, slide in the prawn rolls. Maintain the fire at medium heat. Leave it to fry until the bean curd skin turns golden brown. This will take less than two minutes. Remove the prawn rolls and set them on a serving plate.

To make the sauce, juice half of the mandarin orange and chop up the pulp of the other half. Mix both together. Add the plum sauce and chopped chilli and mix well and serve it back in the mandarin orange skin, shaped like a bowl.