Sweet and sour prawns (Pad Preaw Wan Kung) – A Sino-Thai stir-fry classic
- InFusion
- Jul 27, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 28
A vibrant dish rooted in Sino-Thai culinary tradition
Although sweet and sour stir-fries are often associated with Chinese cuisine, the Thai version known as Pad Preaw Wan (ผัดเปรี้ยวหวาน) shows how Chinese influences were integrated into Thai home and street cooking.
The version with prawns, Pad Preaw Wan Kung, is a fine example of how Thai cooks have adopted Chinese stir-fry techniques (wok, quick cooking, balanced sauce) while using local flavour profiles: fish sauce, fresh pineapple, colourful vegetables and minimal deep-frying.
Recipe for Sino-Thai sweet and sour prawns – Serves 2
Ingredients
200 g prawns, peeled and deveined
50 g cherry tomatoes, diced
50 g pineapple, diced
50 g onion, diced
50 g cucumber, diced
2 tablespoons oil
10 g spring onion, cut into 3 cm lengths
Seasoning:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
½ tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
½ tablespoon coconut sugar
Preparation
Stir-fry the prawns in 2 tablespoons of oil until they turn golden. Add the tomatoes, pineapple, onion, cucumber, and seasoning, then stir well. Cook for another 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Finally, add the spring onions, toss everything together, and remove from the heat.
Tip: Cut all the fruits and vegetables into evenly sized cubes for a more attractive presentation.
Note: The seasoning is designed for sour pineapple. If using a sweet pineapple, adjust by adding more vinegar or reducing the amount of sugar.
Want to learn more?
What makes this dish part of Sino-Thai cuisine
Pad Preaw Wan Kung is a sweet-and-sour stir-fry, a cooking style introduced to Thailand by the Chinese. Both frying and stir-frying became part of Thai cuisine through these influences. Unlike most traditional Thai dishes, this recipe is not spicy, which also reflects its Chinese roots.
The Thai version keeps the vegetables lightly stir-fried and still crisp, and the flavours come mainly from oyster sauce and fish sauce rather than from chilli or fermented condiments. This makes it quite different from the Western-style “sweet and sour” versions, which often use red sauces or ketchup and include ingredients such as bell peppers that are not part of Thai cooking.
Here, the balance is delicate and natural, with the gentle sweetness of pineapple, an ingredient frequently used in Thai stir-fried dishes, combined with the light sourness of rice vinegar. It is one of the clearest examples of how Chinese techniques have blended into Thai home cooking while keeping a distinct Thai identity.
Explore more Sino-Thai recipes
If you are interested in discovering more dishes that share these Sino-Thai origins, visit our blog and try:
Would you like to learn more about Sino-Thai cuisine?
Read our article dedicated to the Chinese heritage of Thai gastronomy, from the migration routes that shaped Bangkok’s Chinatown to the southern dim sum tradition. Discover how wok cooking, soy sauce and Thai ingredients blend to form one of Thailand’s most enduring culinary identities.
Join our Thai cooking classes on Koh Samui
Would you like to learn how to cook authentic Thai dishes like this one? At InFusion Cooking Classes Koh Samui, you will discover how to balance Thai flavours while exploring the country’s diverse regional traditions — including Sino-Thai recipes such as Pad Preaw Wan Kung, Ba Mee Nam Mu and Pad See ew. Our private cooking classes with sea view are available in English, French and German, for beginners and professionals alike. Discover our Thai cooking classes on Koh Samui.
Find this recipe in our book
This recipe for Sino-Thai sweet and sour prawns is included in our “Wok Stir-Fried Dishes” eBook, a collection of authentic Thai stir-fry recipes inspired by Chinese techniques. It features easy-to-follow dishes you can recreate at home, colourful, balanced and full of flavour.