3 delicious prawn recipes for the seafood lover

Prawns are a sea-food delicacy which can be cooked in a variety of mouth-watering ways. We’ve picked three of the best prawn-based dishes in our cookbook for you to try at home, all made with the addition of Olivado’s delicious and healthy cooking oils. 

If you’ve ever argued over what the difference is between a prawn and a shrimp, you’ve wasted your time – they’re both the same thing.

That doesn’t make them any less delicious though!

Our crustacean friends are found in every corner of the world, in all shapes and sizes. The words “prawn” and “shrimp” aren’t scientific names, so the confusion about their differences simply comes down to colloquialisms and cultures.

As a general rule (but with exceptions) prawn is used in British English, while shrimp is used in American English, but the two words are often synonymous, even within the same region or country.

No matter what you call them, prawns are a sea-food delicacy which can be cooked in a variety of mouth-watering ways.

We’ve picked three of the best prawn-based dishes in our cookbook, all made with the addition of Olivado’s delicious and healthy cooking oils. Enjoy!

First things first – how to peel and de-vein a prawn

Prawns may just well be everyone’s favourite shellfish, but they can be intimidating if bought with the shell still on. To prep a prawn, remove the head by twisting it off rather than pulling. Next, peel the shell off from underneath, taking it section by section. To remove the tail, grab it firmly with your thumb and forefinger and just push and shake until it works itself free.

To de-vein the prawn, take a sharp paring knife and gently slice down its back, opening it up slightly. Using the knife or your fingers, grab the long black “string” which runs down the spine of the prawn and pull it out. If you cook the prawn with that vein, it becomes crunchy and ruins the sweet flavour of the prawn.

If you’re feeling like a Masterchef, you can de-vein the prawns by inserting a cocktail stick into their backs about halfway along and hooking out the thin black vein with the tip.

Ginger Prawns

This dish is a staple in South East Asia, used often in stir-fry, but substantial enough to have on its own.

Ginger prawns

Ingredients

  • 1kg large prawns, shelled
  • 2 tsp grated ginger
  • ¾ cup Olivado Extra Virgin Avocado Oil
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • Juice of a lemon
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
  • 1 tsp ground marjoram

 

Method

Mix our delicious Extra Virgin Avocado Oil with the lemon juice, ginger, soy sauce, garlic, honey and marjoram together in a bowl, then add in the prawns and stir thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning the prawns occasionally.

To prepare for cooking, soak wooden skewers in cold water and thread on the prawns – this will stop them catching fire while cooking. Grill on a rack over a barbecue flame or in an oven grill, brushing occasionally with avocado oil. Cook the prawns until they become opaque, turning frequently. To serve, garnish with lemon slices and marjoram sprigs. These ginger prawns go perfectly with a salad.

Marinated BBQ prawns

This ridiculously gorgeous meal takes no time at all to prepare and even less time to cook, so it’s easy to knock up in 10 minutes, stick it in the fridge and then go relax until lunch time.

BBQ prawns

Ingredients

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 100ml Olivado Extra Virgin Avocado oil
  • 3 tbsp tomato relish
  • 30ml red wine vinegar
  • Small handful parsley, chopped
  • Pinch of smoked paprika and chilli powder
  • 500g fresh or frozen prawns, peeled and de-veined
  • 4 small portobello mushrooms
  • Packet of BBQ Skewers

 

Method

In a large bowl, add 100ml of Olivado’s Extra Virgin Avocado Oil and add in the garlic, tomato relish and red wine vinegar. Season with salt, chopped parsley, paprika and chilli powder. Add the prawns to the bowl and stir everything together until they are evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring once or twice. Soak your BBQ skewers in water like the previous recipe and preheat grill to medium heat. Thread your prawns onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Add halved mushrooms as well if you like! Cook prawns on your preheated BBQ grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until opaque nearly white. Serve with more tomato relish and fresh herbs as garnish.

You can find the video instructions for this method by clicking here.

Sweet and sour chilli prawns

Nothing beats a delicious sweet and sour dish with perfectly cooked rice, but adding prawns as your meat takes it to another level!

Sweet chilli prawns

Ingredients

  • 500g large, raw peeled prawns
  • 2 large spring onions
  • 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
  • 3 tbsp tomato sauce
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • 3 tbsp Olivado Avocado Oil with Garlic
  • 5cm piece of ginger, cut into fine matchsticks
  • 1 bunch fresh asparagus, cut into diagonal pieces
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1tsp chilli flakes
  • 250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

 

Method

Cut the green tops off the spring onions and cut them lengthways into thin shreds. Set aside in cold water to use as garnish. Thinly slice the white parts of the spring onions on the diagonal. Mix the chilli sauce, tomato sauce, sugar, soy sauce and vinegar together in a small bowl.

Heat half the Avocado Oil Infused with Garlic in a wok or large, deep frying pan. Add the ginger and cook for 30 seconds, then add the prawns and asparagus and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the prawns are just cooked through. Transfer them to a plate.

Mix the cornflour with 1 tablespoon of cold water. Return the wok or pan to the heat and add the remaining oil and the garlic and chilli. As soon as they start to sizzle, add the white spring onion slices and cherry tomatoes and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the chilli sauce mixture and the cornflour mixture and simmer for a few seconds until thickened and smooth.

Return the prawns to the wok with the shredded green spring onion and toss everything together well. Serve with noodles or steamed white rice.

You can find the video instructions for this method by clicking here.

 

Check out the rest of Olivado’s delicious recipes here, and if you try any of them, we’d love to see a photo and a comment of how things turned out over on the Olivado Facebook page.

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