My sister-in-law’s husband works for this amazing place; The Meat & Fish Co. They are based in Charlotte, NC and have a storefront in this cute little market downtown. They also supply the freshest meat and seafood to the best restaurants all over the world. They have a commitment to quality and freshness that shows in their product. Anyhow, he did us a solid and sent me a big box of goodies this past weekend. One of their specialties are these giant prawns. These things are as long as my forearm. I’m not kidding.
Check this thing out! He sent us three of them. I decided to create a Thai inspired recipe with them, but it is definitely translatable to any kind of shrimp, or even the smaller prawns you can find in the grocery store everyday. I paired this prawn with a banana salsa. I had a similar dish at a local Thai food place and thought I’d try to recreate it. This salsa was deliciously sweet and tangy and paired perfectly with the prawn.
I marinated the prawns for about 30 minutes in lime juice and a bit of olive oil. I also sprinkled some lime zest over them. Then I cooked them on the grill for just about 5 minutes on each side. Once they were done, the hard part came. I had to remove the shells and devein them. I’ll admit the husband took care of this part for me. I have a few pictures of this process in the slide show below. If you are using smaller prawns or shrimp, there is a chance the market or store has already done this step for you.
The banana salsa was really quick. I cut up all the ingredients, bananas last, so they wouldn’t brown. Then mixed it all together. Then I squeezed the lime juice in. I was afraid an entire lime would be too much but it was a nice combination with the sweet peppers and the bananas. (On a side note, I can’t type bananas without hearing that Gwen Stefani song in my head – It’s Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Its the only line I even know from that song, but it’s like its on auto play in my brain every time I type bananas. Now, its it yours too right?)
I really hope you enjoy this recipe. We loved it at our house. These prawns have kind of a lobster-y flavor, but we’ve done it with regular shrimp too, and its just as delicious. It’s a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Enjoy! Also, big props to my Bro in Law or Uncle Lance as he’s known around here, for the box of goodies! We have loved it all!
Local Ingredient: Sweet Peppers from a local market.
Giant Prawns
As big as my forearm!
HUGE PRAWN
tiny shrimp
Prawns on the Grill
Prawns on the Grill
Just off the Grill
Deveining the Prawn
Cleaned Prawns
Look at all the roe!
Banana and Sweet Peppers
For the Salsa
Seeding the Cucumber
Prawn with Banana Salsa
Ingredients
3 giant prawns or 6-8 regular prawns
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from 1 lime
Drizzle of olive oil
1 banana, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 small sweet peppers, diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4-5 mint leaves, chopped
Juice from 1 lime
Instructions
- Marinate the prawns or shrimp with the juice and zest from 1 lime as well as the olive oil for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the grill or grill pan to medium high heat.
- Place the prawns on the grill and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. They will turn pink as they cook.
- Remove from grill to a clean plate.
- If they were not already deveined you'll need to do that now but removing the hard outer shell and using a sharp knife to cut a slit down the back or longer side of the prawn. Gently scrape the dark vein out.
- Once the prawns are cleaned, set them aside and make the salsa.
- Chop the cucumber, sweet peppers, cilantro, mint, and banana and put them in a medium bowl.
- Add the lime juice.
- Stir to combine.
- Serve with prawn with a cilantro or mint garnish.
- Garnish the entire plate with lime zest.
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