Whether you call them prawn or shrimp, these crustaceans are universally loved. Incidentally, even though it is usually a prawn in the UK and Australia, and shrimp in North America, the two are actually two different species. But what do we care if they are tasty? Not a jot!
Prawns are probably one of the best proteins to eat, lean and also rich in minerals and vitamins B and E. Even though many of the prawns available to buy are imported from tropical seas, a lot are caught in west England and Scotland.
But whether native or imported, there’s a caveat: what is sold as ‘fresh’ prawns is more often than not shellfish frozen on boat and thawed for sale. That’s because their shelf life is precariously short. Which means you’re usually much better off buying frozen prawns.
And they are as versatile as you can see from the selection of recipes below.
Shell-on prawns are super messy to eat and absolutely delicious too: skin-on, bone-in, meat and fish not excessively filleted retains more flavour. This recipe makes a finger-licking (literally) dish of spicy prawns, unpeeled but with heads removed if that’s how you prefer them.
Spicy prawns with garlic and lemon
RECIPE
Anything is delicious when served in a warm tortilla and these prawns are no exception. Simply sautéed with, unconventionally, some dried apricot and mango chunks, they make a great taco filling with avocado and shredded lettuce.
Time to use that bag of frozen, cooked and peeled prawns languishing in the freezer. A simple pasta bake with some fresh spinach leaves and a good amount of Parmesan and/or Pecorino is just the ticket for those rather boring old prawns.
Cooked, peeled prawns again are put to excellent use in this cabbage, rice and prawn salad bowl with Vietnamese-style nuoc mam dressing. It’s a wholesomely delicious dish!
Cabbage and prawn salad bowl
RECIPE
The secret of good fried rice is fridge cold rice – so next time cook a surplus and freeze it. Defrost it in the fridge overnight, it’s absolutely safe to store and reheat. Cooked frozen prawns, rice spiced with cinnamon and star anise make a light, healthy and extremely satisfying meal.
No matter how far from Louisiana you live, you can enjoy this truly exciting dish of prawns cooked in the vibrant, fragrant sauce spiced with Creole seasoning – which you can easily mix yourself, at home.
Prawn burgers with homemade slaw are the healthy burger option. Prawn patties with some blended, some roughly chopped prawns have a great texture and you can deep fry them in oil, grill or air fry them.
These prawns are shell-on but made convenient and neat to eat with a knife and fork by butterflying. It’s not at all difficult, and the marinade for the shellfish is mega tasty, with garlic, fenugreek and turmeric.
Ebi fry, or ebi furai is Japanese style breaded and deep fried shrimp, served with tartare or tonkatsu sauce. It takes a little effort to straighten the prawns (sic) and deep frying is always messy, but the result is beyond delicious.
This recipe is a version of prawn chow mein: crispy fried noodles layered with prawns marinated in Chinese five spices. I like to serve it as a warm salad, so there’s no need to rush with the stir-fry steps, but you can mix the noodles with the prawns in the wok.
Five spice shrimp with crispy noodles
RECIPE