Recipe: Fried Garlic Prawns with Mayo
Prawns are a fast and convenient choice of protein for the busy cook. Straight freezer, they can defrost quickly and be pan-seared to make a delicious dinner course.
Prawns can be confusing. Firstly, they are referred to as crustaceans and are also sold by size -shrimps are small and prawns are larger. There are both freshwater and marine varieties. Most prawns are imported frozen into NZ although there is growing local supply. So when you see “fresh” prawns they have generally been defrosted. Fresh prawns in many cases appear green or grey and it is only when cooked, that the colour changes to what we recognise as “pink” prawns. If you buy prawns or scrimps that are pink, this means that they have been cooked.
Then, there are a series of questions to ask:
• Do you cook them in their shells or peel before cooking?
• Do you remove the head and just cook the tail?
• Do you remove the vein (intestinal tract) or black line that runs down the back?
You can use prawns for the same recipe whether they are peeled or deveined. Many people believe that cooking prawns with the shell will enhance the flavour of the broth and result in more succulent prawn meat. The downside is that they are a bit messier to eat. To peel the prawns, you just need to wriggle them a little and ease off the shell, piece by piece.
There is no big deal about cooking prawns with the head on – it is more a cultural thing about people not wanting to see the eyes! The head pulls off easily if you twist it. The tip of the tail can be removed in the same way.
The prawn is de-veined or has the intestinal tract removed as many consider it the prawn more attractive without the black line. It also removes the prawn's stomach waste so that you do not need to eat it! See below for the method.
Like all seafood, prawns should be eaten as soon as possible and not left in the refrigerator for days. If they smell off when you come to cook them, your only choice is to throw them out!
Fried in garlic and paired with home-made mayo showcases these crustaceans at their best.
Check out the full recipe on the link below.
Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we are having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
Calling All Puzzle Masters! Can You Solve This?
When John was six years old he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height.
Ten years later at age sixteen, John returned to see how much higher the nail was.
If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.
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