cambridge-style price (prawn rice)☆

02 jun 2026

full of green veggies and juicy prawns, this hearty, flavourful bowl is the perfect quick meal for an evening in with friends. best enjoyed by shovelling it into your face with a spoon.

when i was in college, there was a big culture of everyone eating at the canteen, so most of the student kitchen facilities were very bad. we had a stove literally placed on the counter that only had two hobs, took about ten minutes to heat up, and switched itself off after 20 minutes for health and safety reasons. this was bad news if you had a class during the canteen opening hours.

wow, there's actual footage of this woeful appliance, thanks apthompson for the thorough room tour. i thought i was exaggerating but it's even worse than i remember.

but a class at 6pm i surely had, so i was forced to adapt. from these constraints the prawn rice, eaten so much that it was shortened to price, was born.

originally, the goal was to only use a single frying pan and to complete it before the switch flipped, so the first iteration used microwaveable thai jasmine rice. my friend group later moved into a more normal kitchen, so we switched to cooking rice the normal way. this meal is actually still one of my favourites!

cambridge-style price (prawn rice)

serves 3; takes ~20 mins

ingredients

produce

• 1 big mug of basmati rice
• 1 pack cooked prawns
• 1 pack tenderstem broccoli
• 1/2 pack chestnut mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• ~1/2 tsp ginger
• 3-6 spring onions (to taste)

seasonings

• chicken stock
• soy sauce (any kind)
• oyster sauce
• shaoxing cooking wine (or mirin, or sherry)
• cornflour
• sesame oil
• black pepper
• sesame seeds

instructions

1. put 1 pack of cooked prawns in a bowl, and stir in the following marinade:
   • 1 tsp soy sauce
   • 1 tsp cooking wine
   • 1 tsp cornflour
2. put the rice on to boil in a saucepan with a lid (or a rice cooker if you have one):
   • 1 big mug of basmati rice (~3 imperial cups)
   • 2 big mugs of hot water
   • ~1/4 cube chicken stock, dissolved into the water
3. chop the veggies for the frying pan:
   • 1 pack tenderstem broccoli, ~1 inch pieces
   • 1/2 pack chestnut mushrooms, sliced
   • 3 cloves garlic, minced
   • 1/2 tsp ginger, grated
   • 3-6 spring onions, sliced
4. fry the ginger and garlic briefly on a medium heat, until they juust start to go brown.
5. fry the broccoli and mushrooms, until the broccoli pieces no longer have white spots in the centre.
6. prepare the sauce by mixing these ingredients together in a mug:
   • 4 tbsp soy sauce
   • 3 tbsp oyster sauce
   • 2 tbsp cooking wine
   • 1 tsp cornflour
   • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
   • black pepper to taste
   stir well to remove the cornflour clumps.
7. add the final ingredients to the pan: 1 pack of cooked prawns, the spring onions, and the sauce. cook until the pale parts of the spring onions go soft.
8. when the rice is done, stir the saucy veggies into the rice or place them on top, and garnish with sesame seeds.

comments? questions? leave a note or email me!☆