Instructions: Shell prawns and butterfly, removing any black veins. Give them a saltwater bath to freshen by placing them in a bowl. Add a generous 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and at least 1/2 cup water (enough to barely cover the shrimp). Mix with your hand for a few seconds to dissolve salt and gently massage shrimp. Set aside for five to 10 minutes. The water will quickly turn gray and murky. Rinse thoroughly in plenty of cool water to remove salt. Drain well.

Arrange single layer of shrimp on a heat-proof serving dish with a little depth that fits on the rack of a stacked steamer.

Combine garlic and cilantro roots or stems in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Mix well. Spoon and spread evenly over prawns.

Bring 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water to a boil in the steamer pot before placing rack holding the plate of prawns over the pot. Cover and steam over high heat for seven to 10 minutes (depending on size of prawns), or until prawns are just cooked through.

Meantime, prepare green onion. Trim and discard loose green leaves. Split stalk in half lengthwise, then cut into inch-long segments. Cut each segment lengthwise into fine matchstick slivers.

When prawns are done, immediately lift lid so that condensed steam does not drip onto prawns. Let hot steam dissipate before lifting dish from steamer rack.

A fair amount of very tasty juice will have steamed out from the prawns.

Liberally sprinkle with white pepper and garnish with green onion slivers.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.