Seafood in any form is welcome to non-vegetarians and being an avid seafood lover, there is no dearth of this marine food in my eager kitchen. Prawns – small or large prawns – are unfailingly stocked in my icer. In my view, prawns can be used in soups, appetizers, as well as main fare which brings us to our dish for today “Garlic Butter Prawns”. It combines well with almost any gravy, or rice based dish and is the most versatile in the seafood family.
Prawn tempura
While one can dish out a tuna salad, a prawn balchao pickle, lobster cakes, shrimp
Tuna fish salad
cocktails, smoked salmon sushi, prawn tempura and such – it’s the “garlic butter prawns” that scores over all. For one, its preparation is fuss-free, it’s easily available and tasty and it can be transformed to a paste, or a curried delight or form the filling of dumplings.
As I always maintain in most of my shortcut recipes posts, time is in short supply to most, I’d rather go along with a recipe without much ado as this Garlic Butter Prawns recipe.
Garlic Butter Prawns Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Garlic Butter Prawns Marinade
- ½ kilo large prawns (shelled & deveined)
- 6 cloves garlic (finely chopped, or garlic paste if in a hurry)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- ½ tsp pepper (ground preferred for its fresh flavour)
Ingredients for Stage II of the Garlic Butter Prawns Recipe
- 6 tsp butter
- 3 tsp olive oil
- 3/4 cup white wine
- Salt as per taste
Ingredients for Garnishing
- 4 tsp coriander leaves (chopped)
- A few wedges of lime
Instructions
Method
- Shell and devein the prawns, wash and pat them slightly dry and put into a bowl.
- Add the suggested quantity of olive oil, ground pepper and salt to the prawns - preferably large prawns - and keep aside in a bowl for around 15-20 minutes of marination.
- Heat the butter & oil together and sear the marinated prawns in three or four batches and not altogether. The flame must be turned on high for the first few seconds - to give the prawns a seared feel. Then reduce the flame to medium or medium-low as the prawns turn a light golden. Ensure that the prawns are turned so as to cooked on both sides but take care to not overcook them (for cooking prawns over 5 minutes will make them rubbery).
- Toss the lightly fried prawns of the first batch into a waiting plate, then toss in the next batch of prawns into butter and oil and sear for a minute or so.
- When the last batch is cooked, add the first batch/es placed in a plate back into the pan. Turn up the heat again, now add the wine and stir till the prawns are well covered in the heady liquid. Drizzle the wine as it sizzles. Use a silicone spatula to scrape away any residue from the evaporated wine.
- Take out the cooked flavoured prawns onto a serving dish. Sprinkle a little lime juice and chopped coriander (or parsley) and garnish with lime wedges. If you haven't sprinkled enough lime juice, then make it up with more lime wedges as lime and prawns go well together. The whiff of the garlic will catch your guests' attention even before the flavour of prawns does.
For all its pros, prawn shelling could feature as one of the few cons of cooking prawns. Washing, shelling and deveining prawns can be an arduous task and hence would fall among the “cons” vs. the “pros“. Cleaned and shelled shrimps, those that come in ready packs or even cleaned by the fish seller. can remove it from the discomfiting “cons” family. The only other adverse effect of prawns is that it is high in cholesterol and low in saturated fats which won’t help in raising bad cholesterol.
However, if cooking prawns is not a daily affair, their omega-3 content can help. Fresh prawns are always preferred over frozen prawns but in the contemporary times of hustle and bustle, one can freeze the prawns soon after a fresh catch. The frozen prawns can be packaged in small lots to enable cooking smaller quantities.
The simplicity of cooking prawns more than makes up for its laborious cleaning. My recipe for prawns in butter garlic is simple and quick. Try it.
6 Comments
You know how to make me hungry LITA! Thanks for sharing. Have a wonderful weekend.
Ha ha ha, that’s the idea. It’s easy this recipe, just like making tea. Try it, and I’ll bet a bottom dollar if your neighbours don’t come to your door asking what’s cooking. Thanks so much sweet. Am getting ready for a panel discussion on the International Women’s Day on the 8th March. You have a fantastic weekend too!
I know Carmelita and admire her skills and talents into everything she’s into…her knowledge knows no bound. She is also a fantastic singer and her dedication to Music is just incredible… Extremely nice person although she could be wrongly mistaken as slightly arrogant 😀 My friend.
What a review, Loyola! Perceptions are usually baseless, until they have the courage to meet the person they want to meet.
Btw, can you give me a review of the prawns recipe which is blog post is about. Thank you so much.
Prawns and escargot 2 of my favourites in garlic butter. Yummy Lita thanks..
It’s hard or should I say impossible to get escargot here, but yes escargot would taste good in garlic and wine. The last I had some was on my visit to France.