The Raw Prawn

This is one of my most favorite dishes (recipes). Most recipes that use chili have it as an optional ingredient. Not so with this recipe. The more chili the better, so use as much as you can stand.

The ingredients are -

Lemon
Chili
Corriander
Garlic
Fish Sauce

Of course, we are also using prawns. It is very important to use fresh prawns. Talk to your local fisherman or fish monger and tell him that you are making "sushi" style prawns. Or better still, catch them yourself.

We need some nice FRESH and LOCAL green prawns...Here I have Australian banana prawns. Notice that I keep ice cubes on the prawns.

The reason for my insistence on "local" is not only to provide for the local fish monger...It's also so that you know they are FRESH. Keep the prawns "on ice" even while in a bowl. These "banana" prawns have a slight pinkish tinge compared to ocean going prawns. However, they are just as FRESH and raw...I didn't want to go into detail, but you might even notice the ridges on the prawns head. Those spiney ridges are what makes the prawn a "king" prawn. The prawn is "crowned" with spines and a spike which makes it a "king" prawn.

First thing to do is shell the prawns...Believe me, shelling raw prawns is just the same (maybe easier) than shelling cooked prawns. Once shelled (or if you like pealed), de-vein and butterfly them. To do that simply run a sharp small knife through the prawn and remove the vein.

When butterflied and de-vein, they should look like the below image. Then cut the end off a lemon and put aside to be used for garnish.

Then put the prawns into a bowl and squeeze over enough fresh lemon juice to just cover the prawns. Add half to one teaspoon of fish sauce. And allow to stand for about 5 minutes.

You might notice in the below image, the prawns are just starting to turn white on the edges. That is caused by the acid in the lemon juice "cooking" the meat. It is perfectly normal and expected.

While the prawns are standing in the lemon juice crush the garlic, chili and corriander. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can use the back of a spoon and bowl.

Once the garlic, chili and corriander are crushed together, add the mix to the bowl of prawns and give it all a mix so that all the prawns are covered.

Then arrange the prawns on a plate and spoon over the remaining garlic chili mix. Garnish with the lemon end and fresh corriander leaves. Serve chilled.