Rubbery prawn stir fry - what am I doing wrong?

Question

Hi,

This evening (for the second time ever) I tried making a stirfry using tiger prawns instead of meat or tofu. I started off with a basic stirfry: sweet potato, sweet peppers, onions, and uncle ben's sweet&sour sauce. I had a tub of cooked&peeled tiger prawns, which I threw into the wok about 7-8 minutes before serving, long enough for them to heat up properly.

Yet again the prawns ended up shrunken and rubbery (the first time I fried them in garblic&butter before adding to the wok, was even worse!!).

What am I doing wrong- perhaps I should try the same approach but with raw prawns??

thanks

Answer 1

Where is the shrimp he was cooking prawns...

appears as if you maybe cooking them for too long or at a quick rate (is the hob on high). try doing it gradually next time or reduce cooking times. i tend to cook prawns before adding the sauce. good luck

sounds like it was a nice dish though!

Answer 2

You should start with raw prawns. If they are coming out rubbery, you are overcooking them. If you started with prawns that were already cooked, you should have cooked everything else and then thrown the prawns into the mix at the last moment, then taken it all out. You should never have recooked the prawns. This is why they are rubbery.

Try the same recipe with raw prawns and cook them with the stir fry. This should come out great.

Answer 3

you're cooking the shrimp too long, that's what causes them to become rubbery. Even the raw prawns should only be cooked for 3-4 minutes.

Answer 4

Use raw ones next time and cook 2-3 min. on each side Prawns actually are a type of meat.

Answer 5

Cooked shrimp blo dog. but if you are going to do this anyway flash cook them in garlic and stuff for only a minute then set them aside whilst you stirfry the other stuff then add them at the end.

good luck

lr

Answer 6

You are cooking the shrimp too long. Shrimp cook very quickly, normally it only takes a couple of minutes. If you use raw shrimp, they will be grey looking, once they turn pink they will be done. Just try cooking them less and you should be ok. Good luck!

Answer 7

You may be cooking them too long. That's what it sounds like. Small prawns like that cook very fast. Best of luck to you.

Answer 8

Rubbery shrimp (as we call them in the US) are caused by overcooking. Watch your color. When they begin to get opaque they are close to being done. There is no exact way to time them (like a lot of things in cooking a little art is involved). Good luck.

Answer 9

you are cooking the prawn too Long put them in 5 min b4 you are finished the cooking process

Answer 10

Over cooked shrimp. If they are all ready cook you need about 2 or three min. to heat.