more about spot prawns

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 Bradford is owner and chef at his restaurant, Amusé Bistro located in Shawnigan Lake.

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It is that time a year again.  Spot prawn season has arrived.  I will be featuring lots of spot prawns on the menu at Amuse Bistro this week.

As the prawners pull up their long lined traps and head back into Cowichan Bay you can rush down to the docks to greet the freshest catch around.  When buying prawns there are a few things to keep in mind.  Check that they smell of the sea, feel firm, and have few or no black spots.

Most of the prawns you find on the docks are so fresh that they’ll be jumping out the boat and into your bucket. You can’t get a clearer sign of freshness then buying prawns fresh off the boat.

When you get home you’ll need to clean and store them. The best way to clean them is to pinch them between the head and the body, give a twist and remove the head.  For the adventurous cooks I recommend keeping the heads on as the inner shell of the head is very sweet and tasty.  For the less adventurous keep the heads for a tasty prawn stock that you can use to make a traditional French prawn bisque.

To cook the spot prawns steam them in a covered pot with a bit of white wine, butter and garlic until the prawns start to curl.  The process takes only a few minutes so watch closely.  Overcooked prawns are tough and rubbery.

So, grab your bucket, head down to the Bay and enjoy this seasonal gem.  Make sure to use the whole prawns even the shells. Here is a great recipe for spot prawn bisque, great use for shells.

Ingredients:

2 ounces butter

1/2 pound prawn shells

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic minced

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

2 Tablespoons brandy

1 ounce short grain rice (raw)

2  fresh bay leaves

1  1/2 litres shellfish or fish stock

1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

juice of 1 lemon

8 ounces whipping cream

1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 ½ ounces dry sherry

Method

• Sauté prawn shells, onion, garlic in butter.
• Add paprika, tomato paste cook out for a minute or two until tomato paste is a darker rusty color.
• Deglaze with brandy, reduce by 25 percent.
• Add rice and bay leaves stir for one minute to moisten rice.
• Add stock, salt and pepper and lemon juice.
• Simmer for 45 minutes.
• In a blender, blend soup (including shells) until well incorporated , strain through fine mesh cheese cloth lined strainer.
• Return to clean pot, bring back to a simmer add cream, fresh thyme and sherry.
• Check seasoning.
• Serve in warm bowl and garnish with butter poached prawns.

Latest posts by Bradford Boisvert

• makeria farm rye salad - August 24th, 2010
• spot prawn bisque - May 26th, 2010
• scallop ceviche in cucumber - February 5th, 2010
• getting to know your food - February 3rd, 2010
• my first blog - November 15th, 2009