Drunken King Prawns
This is actually the perfect outdoor cooking meal for messing up and not having to worry where the mess is going to fall into. It’s great to dish out on cozy warm evenings at the seaside or at the campsite and indulge in a pot of goodness. If water is abundant for you, give yourself a treat and get some prawns from the next supermarket. They are available in most supermarkets in France, Italy, and Spain. If possible, get them fresh. It makes a whole world of difference.
“It was a hot autumn in the 9-ties when we decided to bulldoze our way to southern Spain. Our flight landed in Malaga. We checked out of the airport, got in to our rental car and were looking very much forward to exploring this part of the world. It was my first time in spain, the culture, food was something really new for me. Andalusia was blessed with warm temperatures, hidden secret spots that only the locals would know of, awesome crags with 35m routes and everyone was just so friendly! We headed off for Granada after staying a few days climbing in Anteqeura and El Chorro, it was hot and the journey was taking a while. I was starving, and there was no end to this hot car ride.
We found a parking lot under a tree. It wasn’t really idyllic, actually it was a dusty hot parking lot with one damn tree next to the main road, but my stomach was telling me that it didn’t matter. My brain felt dehydrated and it was echoing “you want food”,“ you are hungry”, “eat eat eat”. I looked into the many plastic bags we filled up at the supermarket earlier and decided on something I’ve never done before. Well, put it this way, the location was really all wrong.
I whipped out the kilo of king prawns we bought earlier for dinner and dished out one of the best meals I’ve made in ages. Served with tons of garlic, white wine and a fresh baguette, we had a feast! It made me smile to see the reaction of cars passing by and wondering where this strong garlic smell comes from. I think we finished everything that was in the pot, with exception of the shells and were definitely handicapped from any further driving after we decided to finish off the rest of the bottle of wine! The dirt or heat didn’t matter any more, everybody was happy and contented, the stomach was full, the head spinning. It was the situation – the heat and the settings, the reaction of those cars passing by that inspired me with fond memoirs of “Recipes on the road”.
Have you ever done something you’ve never expect to do at all the wrong places?
Ingredients (makes for 2):
- 500 g fresh/frozen King prawns
- Bundle of Parsley
- 1 Lemon
- 1.5 cup White wine
- 6 cloves Garlic
- Salt, Pepper
- Chilli (optional)
Method:
Wash the prawns in running water if possible. Drain and leave aside. (If you are fussy, you can de-vein them. I usually do this instead when they are cooked, but it meant more work before you put those prawns in your mouth) Heat up your stove, add some olive oil to your sandwich bottom pan, and brown the garlic till lightly brown. Raise the heat and when your pan is really hot, throw the prawns in and stir vigorously. Once those prawns start to curl up and get rosy, add ½ a cup of white wine and allow it to simmer until almost dry. Add again the rest of the white wine and let it simmer for another 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, garnish with parsley and lemon.
Fresh baguette fits perfectly, as well as white wine. You can use beer instead too (incase you ran out of white wine) but too much may cause it to get bitter.
Mmmm…sounds divine. I came across a similarly “boozy” recipe which calls for sherry. It’s just as simple and gives the prawns a sweeter taste.
niceee 😉
mmmmm, v nice prawns. unfortunatly i slightly ruined it with bad microwave rice (obviously i am a looser). next time i will follow the bagette tip.
smash the state!
mouthwatering and tasty!!!
great pics!!!