I first tasted this dish in 1980 in one of the famous restaurants of my hometown, Hong Kong, and thought it tasted heavenly. There was no question of their letting me into their cookery secret, so I experimented and came up with this concoction. I think you will enjoy it, too.

Ingredients:

12 ounces (350 grams) medium or large prawns in the shell, without heads
a few coriander leaves, torn into pieces
For the sauce:
1 tablespoon fermented black beans
1 tablespoon salted yellow beans
1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 to 5 tablespoons peanut or corn oil
4 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1⁄2 to 3⁄4 inch (1 to 2 centimeters) fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped fine
1⁄2 to 1 fresh green or red chili, seeded and sliced into tiny rounds
1 to 1 1⁄2 tablespoons Shaohsing wine or medium-dry sherry

Directions:

Prepare the sauce: Mash the black beans and salted yellow beans together with the sugar and sesame oil into a paste.

Heat a wok over high heat until smoke rises. Add the oil and swirl it around. Add the garlic, and as soon as it takes on color, put in the ginger. Stir. Quickly add the mashed bean paste, stir well, and then add the chili. Splash in the wine or sherry around the side of the wok. As soon as the sizzling dies down, lower the heat, stir well and then pour the sauce into a container and allow to cool.

Remove and discard the prawn legs. Pat dry. Split lengthwise into 2, except for the tails. Discard the veins. Arrange around a heatproof serving dish with a slightly raised edge. Spoon the sauce on the prawns, scraping up every bit of oil as well.

Steam in a wok or steamer, over moderately high heat for 3 or 4 minutes. Check to see if the prawns are cooked. Scatter the coriander leaves over the prawns. Replace the lid and steam for a brief moment, to cook the coriander leaves partially.

Remove from the heat and again spoon the sauce on the prawns and coriander leaves. Serve immediately from the dish in which they were cooked.

Serves 4 to 6 with 2 or 3 other.