Cooking Prawns is Pi**ing me off...
Discussion
My first thought would be that the sauce is in fact a marinade. Leave the raw prawns to steep for a few hours, then drain, reduce the marinade to a sauce, adjusting to taste, then griddle/wok the prawns in a tiny bit of oil, serve, and pour the sauce over. You're never going to get a char with sloshy liquid in the pan.
randlemarcus said:
My first thought would be that the sauce is in fact a marinade. Leave the raw prawns to steep for a few hours, then drain, reduce the marinade to a sauce, adjusting to taste, then griddle/wok the prawns in a tiny bit of oil, serve, and pour the sauce over. You're never going to get a char with sloshy liquid in the pan.
This, a two pan operation.I fully defrost, then leave to dry between sheets of kitchen towel, to reduce the amount of water coming out during cooking.
They're such delicate meat that searing needs to be done very very quickly and served immediately. Which is a faff. Instead, what I do is poach for about five minutes in garlic-infused olive oil, set aside, then add to the rest of the dish just to warm through.
They're such delicate meat that searing needs to be done very very quickly and served immediately. Which is a faff. Instead, what I do is poach for about five minutes in garlic-infused olive oil, set aside, then add to the rest of the dish just to warm through.
A problem I have with cooking prawns, they always seem to become a little tough, even when they are not frozen and I rarely order prawns when in a restaurant so I can't compare. Recently I was lucky enough to get some fresh Dublin bay prawns and these seem to be a whole other crustacea, they were nowhere near tough or translucent and when cooked did not shrink and remained tender and very flavoursome, as a bonus they were about 3 inches long, I'd think these usually go to high end establishments as they are rare in any of the fish shops that I go to. I'd say If you see them, buy them.
I defrost large raw prawns thoroughly, then butterfly and dry thoroughly. Then dry them again.
Dust them in plain flower with salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Shake them off in a seive and set aside.
Puy the oven on to max. Cast iron shallow dish, half an inch of olive oil, finely chopped garlic and finely chopped fresh chilli, heat up on the hob, trying not to burn the garlic, then drop in the prawns for about a minute.
Then wack them into a super hot oven for a few minutes until they start to get slightly burnt edges.
Serve with fresh hot ciabatta, lemon, a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a bottle of chilled Frascati Superior. The prawns always come out soft and juicy but slightly crispy on the outside - lovely. Ciabatta soaks up all the garlicky oil
I was going to try it with some semolina in the flour to add a bit more crispiness but never got around to it
..this was my take on the way my favourite Italian restaurant seems to do their prawns, and it works. A pizza oven might be an advantage
Dust them in plain flower with salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Shake them off in a seive and set aside.
Puy the oven on to max. Cast iron shallow dish, half an inch of olive oil, finely chopped garlic and finely chopped fresh chilli, heat up on the hob, trying not to burn the garlic, then drop in the prawns for about a minute.
Then wack them into a super hot oven for a few minutes until they start to get slightly burnt edges.
Serve with fresh hot ciabatta, lemon, a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a bottle of chilled Frascati Superior. The prawns always come out soft and juicy but slightly crispy on the outside - lovely. Ciabatta soaks up all the garlicky oil
I was going to try it with some semolina in the flour to add a bit more crispiness but never got around to it
..this was my take on the way my favourite Italian restaurant seems to do their prawns, and it works. A pizza oven might be an advantage
Edited by Lotobear on Tuesday 19th October 14:44
very easy to overcook.anonymous said:
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Thanks for the tips Tony. I finally got chance to follow this method last night and it’s an absolute game changer. I used the Argentinian Shrimp from Aldi (another tip from here) and cooked like you described to make gambas pil pil that was at a standard I would expect from a great tapas bar. anonymous said:
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You're welcome, glad it helped. One of the major differences between domestic and commercial cooking is the equipment. Event he smallest commercial chargrill is more powerful than all the burners combined on some domestic hobs. Super/over heating pans etc is a way around this but its very easy to damage splashbacks and surrounding worktops 
I follow this guy on Youtube who has recently done a video on cooking lawns...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xBwVEbQA80
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xBwVEbQA80
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