Cook with

Recipes with Prawn

Quick-cooking and sweet — a star of pad thai, summer rolls and tom yum.

Prawns are the quick, sweet, briny luxury of the Asian kitchen — cooked in minutes, generous with flavour, and at home everywhere from a fiery hot-and-sour soup to a cool summer roll. Their speed is both their gift and their trap, since the line between succulent and rubbery is just a moment of heat, but a cook who learns to read them is rewarded every time.

Forms and sizes, and how they cook

Prawns come head-on or headless, shell-on or peeled, raw or pre-cooked, and at sizes from tiny salad prawns to meaty tiger prawns. Shell-on prawns hold more moisture and flavour through cooking and shield the flesh from harsh heat, while peeled ones are convenient for stir-fries and curries. Larger prawns suit grilling and skewering, where they keep their bite; smaller ones disappear sweetly into fried rice, noodles and broths. Pre-cooked prawns need only warming through and are best added at the very end, since further cooking turns them tough. Whatever the size or form, the flesh turns from grey-translucent to pink-opaque as it cooks, the only timer that really matters.

Preparing and cooking techniques

Peeling, deveining and a quick rinse are the main prep; pat the prawns thoroughly dry afterwards so they sear instead of steaming. A brief toss in a little salt or bicarbonate of soda, then a rinse, firms the flesh to a pleasing snap, a trick behind the bouncy prawns of good stir-fries. Cook over high heat and add prawns late, since they need only two to three minutes and overshoot quickly into rubber. The shells and heads, sautéed until deep orange and then simmered, make a fast and intensely savoury stock that is far too good to discard.

Buying, storing and food safety

Good raw prawns smell of clean sea air, never of ammonia, and have firm, glossy flesh and shells that cling. Most are frozen at sea, so well-handled frozen prawns often beat thawed ‘fresh’ ones at the counter. Keep them very cold and use raw prawns the day they thaw; do not refreeze them once defrosted. Thaw gently in the fridge or under cold water. Cook prawns through until opaque and firm, and keep raw seafood well away from anything ready to eat.

Where it shines

Prawns light up dishes across the region. They are the sweet bite tossed through a tangle of pad thai, the pink half-moons pressed into translucent Vietnamese summer rolls, and the heart of a fragrant, fiery tom yum goong, whose very name announces them. Quick to cook and quick to please, prawns reward a hot pan and a watchful eye. For the fish sauce, chilli and aromatics that prawns love, see the Asian pantry guide.

The prawn recipe (1)

Cha Gio — Crispy Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls

Vietnamese

Cha Gio — Crispy Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls

1 h Medium

Shatteringly crisp Vietnamese spring rolls with a pork and shrimp filling, wrapped in rice paper and served with herbs and nuoc cham.

See also the Asian pantry guide for more on stocking these ingredients.

Prawn: common questions

Should I devein prawns, and what is the dark line anyway?+

The dark line running along a prawn's back is its digestive tract, not a vein. It is harmless to eat but can carry grit and a slightly muddy taste, so removing it from larger prawns is worth the minute it takes. Make a shallow slit along the back with a small knife and lift the tract out with the tip or rinse it away. On small prawns it is fine to leave, since it is barely noticeable and the effort outweighs the gain.

How do I avoid overcooking prawns?+

Prawns cook in two to three minutes and go from translucent to opaque almost instantly, so they are easy to ruin. Watch the shape: a raw prawn lies straight, a perfectly cooked one curves into a loose C, and an overcooked one tightens into a hard O and turns rubbery. Add them late to stir-fries and curries, cook over brisk heat, and pull them off the moment they turn pink and opaque. Residual heat will finish them.

Are fresh or frozen prawns better?+

Frozen prawns are often the smarter buy, since most prawns are frozen at sea within hours of catch, while 'fresh' ones on ice have usually been thawed and are quietly ageing. Frozen prawns keep their texture and sweetness well and let a cook use only what is needed. Thaw them gently in the fridge or under cold running water, never in warm water, and pat them dry before cooking so they sear rather than steam.

What is the shell good for and should I keep it?+

Prawn shells and heads are packed with savoury flavour and make an outstanding quick stock. Sauté them in a little oil until they turn deep orange and smell sweet, then simmer briefly with water and aromatics and strain. That stock forms the backbone of many seafood soups and noodle broths. Even when prawns are peeled for a dish, saving the shells in the freezer builds toward a stock that lifts the next pot considerably.