Recently I bought a bag of frozen cooked prawns. I love prawns but have never served them before.
I thought it would be simple to prepare them and serve them with a dipping sauce or something similar. I want simplicity without a whole lot of other ingredients.
This is probably easy for most of you but I really don't have a clue where to start and Google brings up so many gourmet sounding ideas but I want the best help from people such as the foodlovers team. Do I cook them in butter, maybe garlic butter, or oil? The ideas on the back of the packet suggest such things as prawn omelette.
Thanks for your help.

We love prawns and I always have a bag or two in the freezer. Simple and easy just season with salt and pepper and pan fry defrosted prawns in batches until just cooked through, test the first one or two so you can see about how long they take. Dipping sauce - current favorite is Nuoc Cham Vietnamese dipping sauce it's simple to make (lots of recipes on google). Sometimes I just brush them with melted garlic butter and a squeeze of lemon when they are cooked, they go quickly though! To make them go further - just use a pack of ready made curry paste, we like Thai green or red curry, fry the paste, add coconut cream or milk, the raw prawns and a handful of green beans, simmer till the prawns are pink and just cooked. Serve with rice or Naan. The other fast dinner is to heat a jar of your favorite pasta sauce, add the raw prawns, a little chopped chilli and a squeeze of lemon. Season and simmer until the prawns are just cooked and serve with angel hair (vermicelli) pasta.

NB: when you have defrosted your prawns dry them well with paper towels before frying.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2018 03:54AM by Danube.

Marnie has bought cooked prawns so unfortunately Danube's suggestions are not ideal. Pre-cooked prawns are usually pretty fresh but overcooked and the last thing you want to do is cook them any further. Try making a prawn salad with them - home made mayonnaise loosened with lemon juice, fresh herbs as available, some raw red onion, capers, chopped gherkins and green olives. Serve on lettuce leaves or a bed or rocket.

Here's a suggestion, a Jamie Oliver recipe. I haven't made this but I think it would work well.

Prawn, Lemon & Parsley Frittata

serves 2

6 large eggs
salt and pepper
handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of ¼ lemon
1 heaped tab Parmesan, freshly grated
180 g peeled cooked Australian prawns
25g butter
olive oil
¼ tsp chilli flakes

Heat oven to 220C.

Whisk eggs with salt and pepper, add parsley, zest, juice and Parmesan.

Roughly chop half of the prawns, leave the rest whole, add all to eggs.

In a small non-stick pan heat the butter and a splash of oil over med heat until it begins to foam. Pour in egg mixture and stir briefly. Put pan in oven and cook for 4 - 5 min. until slightly golden and starting to rise. Remove, sprinkle chilli over, serve with a salad.

Thanks for your responses and ideas. I will be trying them very soon.

Ahhhh, yes I didn't read carefully enough, I usually only use the cooked ones for either in salad or dipped in homemade Marie Rose sauce for a bit of a deconstructed prawn cocktail

That Marie Rose sauce would go so well. I had made a quick dipping sauce with mayonnaise, sweet chilli sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice. I also had some plum and ginger sauce.

The next lot of prawns I buy will be the raw ones and I will try those. I am still very much in the learning phase here.

I use the cooked prawns for when I make Tom Yum Soup, adding them at the last minute. They are also handy to top a pizza with, or for the 'old fashioned' Prawn cocktails.