Prawn cooking advice

[Didley]

Just looking 4 advice on cooking prawns. How long do u boil them and do U use sea water or salted fresh. I'm going to catch a few kg soon and wouldn't like to stuff em up:D

[CreelReaper]

Its a long and boring job mate.......as a friend just drop them off at my place and I will do them for you hehehehe ;)
Seriously, I'd use salt water from where you cauight them, (sometimes i will add a handfull of salt on top of this) .....bring water to boil and place them into the water. After a few minutes they will start to float. I generally allow a further minute or so and them remove them from the boiling water and straight into an icy cold slurry. Lip smacking good.:) :P

Shane

[whiteman]

Check out what I do. Plenty of practice and never fails ... http://www.bbbalc.com/index.cfm?Menu=Recipes&PageID=133

[Volvo]

Ive always added a tablespoon of sugar to the water to make the Prawn easier to peel as well as helping the shell to stay nice and crispy for shelling..

[the gecko]

I dont boil em, I will only bbq em in garlic and olive oil. Cold beer on the side. Yum.

Andrew

[Fatenhappy]

Hey Didley ...

The cheese and kisses does ours most of the time and generally i'd say does things pretty much the same as Shane and with salt water where ever possible.

When we do the cold slurry, if she can't use salt water she tries to get as much salt into the mix as can be absorbed, then adds the ice .... throw the just boiled prawns in and you little beauty ....

Either way would have to be OK I'd imagine

Cheers
GS

[Didley]

Thanks 4 the advice fellas, I really like the sound of Volvo's sugar in the water. I've never been prawning before, so it will be interesting to see how I go.

[Wahoo]

Didley,
prawns on the bbq, get the plate hot, soak a few sheets of newspaper in some water, throw on the prawns, bit of lemon juice,and sprinkle salt, this is all still with the shell on, then cover the lot with the wet newspaper for about 3-5mins, boiling them tends to lose its flavor, this way it keeps it locked in, give it a go, very nice


Daz

[Noelm]

not too sure that the sugar helps in peeling them in any way, but who knows, I find that if the Prawns are Fresh, and they are fully cooked and cooled in Ice water, peeling is never a problem, mind you, a handfull of Hot Prawns is hard to beat, same goes for Blue Swimmers (sandies) fresh cooked, straight out of the Pot onto a plate and away you go, you burn the buggery out of your Fingers eating them, but who cares??

[missami]

Cook prawns any way really. but if you want them cooked to eat cold. boil water add a good handful of salt (NOT SALT WATER, TALK ABOUT OTHER GROSS SHIT IN THE WATER) and cook till shell turns red. other wise if you over cook they go tough. In other cook, just keep in mind when prawn shells go red maybe a min after they do. then they are ready.

[Keechie]

barbeque them with honey and soy sauce and its awesome i don't eat to much sea food but i ate about 20 of them they were great. they were the best prawns ever.

regards,
keechie

[ifishcq1]

Didley all ways look good but the simple one is the best if the water you caught them in is clear use that or just put a good handfull in the pot
get the water boiling then chuck in the prawns with handfull of brown sugar in
when they are cooked they float and curl ,straight prawns aren't cooked
scoop out the prawns as soon as they curl up there is no timing needed and some prawns don't go red
put straight into an ice slurry for about 10 minutes or as long as you like
the ice water pops the shell from the flesh just like with crabs it makes them easier to peel
all the salt used in the boiling gets rid of any nasties in the water as a rule
now a dash of lemon and a cold can of jimmy and............

[PNG1M]

I was gonna put up a new thread about this but did a search and got all the above info.

Thanks for those who posted, even though it was April 2008..!!

I wanted to know how to boil up your own prawns at home so they came close to the pre-cooked ones you buy at the co-op & that are cooked on the trawlers. etc

Any more techniques out there...??

[dnej]

There is another way, which is magic.
DONT put salt in the cooking water.
Bring to boil, add prawns, when floating remove and place into ice slurry, WITH THE SALT ADDED HERE,The longer you leave them , the saltier they get. Just wait till you try this method. Fantastic.
David

[Shagga]

Hey Didley,

Just wondering what you are going to use for a net???

[PNG1M]

Hey Dnej,

Before I launch in I'd better confirm the steps for say, 1kg of regular size schoolies purchased green.

1. Boil in unsalted tap water until reddish/orangy in colour (water pre-boiled before dumping prawns in)

2. Give 'em a squick strain thru and a shake in the colandar

3. Put them into a pre-salted ice slurry and let'em sit there for a while

4. Keep'em in the fridge to eat at your leisure & they should be as tasty as.

Ok, Sounds correct enough to me. I'm gonna try that this weeekend...

[dnej]

PNG1M,
Just watch the boiling part, as soon as they float in the boiling water, lift them out straight away. Dont worry about the colour, its when they float that is important.

When you tip them into the colandar, run them under the cold tap, then straight into the slurry. You need to stop them cooking ASAP.

The longer you leave them in the ice slurry, with the salt, the saltier they get. So its to taste, as to how long you want to leave them.
Regards David

[bennykenny]

the secret to know when they are cooked is if you boil them which ever way you like IE with salt, without salt, ice slurry. if you grab one out about the time they start to float and have a look at the top of the shell near the bend in the tail, if they are cooked you will see a little air pocket between the meat and the shell this id=s when the meat is cooked, then you can cool them down. this was taught to me by a mate that works in a seafood shop, works great, cheers BK

[TheRealAndy]

I dont boil em, I will only bbq em in garlic and olive oil. Cold beer on the side. Yum.

Andrew

Thats more or less the way I do them! I often chuck in a bit of chilli and lemon or lime too. Making me hungry now.

[banksmister]

There is a good prawn cooking video on Nuggets website www.nuggetfishing.com.au/ (http://www.nuggetfishing.com.au/)

[PNG1M]

Hey Dnej,

I tried your method and it worked great. The result was that the prawns ended up as close as I've ever got to the ones that are pre-cooked on the trawlers & that you buy at the co-op.

The only things I needed to consider were:

1. Just how salty do you make the ice slurry as I think mine ended up a bit tooo salty.

2. Once you dump the prawns in the slurry, what is the optimum time to leave them in. As I felt like a good salt fix I left mine in for a solid 15-20 mins but then I started to worry that the prawns might get waterlogged as the ice melted.

Anyway, for a maiden run the prawns were delicio and I'm keen to give the method a second burl at some point.

[PNG1M]

After trying the "salted ice slurry" method several times, it is definately the way to go.

You can get the prawns to taste a bit differently each time depending on how salty you make the slurry & how long you leave the prawns in it.

I reckon the method is great!

[Noelm]

a fishmarket owner that I know once told me to never salt prawns untill you are ready to eat them, the salt draws out moisture and will make them tough, now I guess that could well be true, but they usually don't last long enough at my place to find out! OH and someone way back mentioned prawns being cooked when they are curled up, some prawns never curl up, they stay straight regardless of how long you cook them it has something to do with muscle/tendons that makes them curl up, sometimes prawns that are really "dead" will stay straight. Lobster are the same a dead lobster will stay straight, whereas a live one will curl up the second you put it in hot water.

[dnej]

PNG1M.
Sorry I missed your response. Glad it worked well for you .Some leave the prawns as long as 14 hours in the ice slurry, to give you some idea. I have left them as long a 5 hours.
David