How to Cook Prawns: Recipes and Tips on Cleaning and Treatment

Crustaceans belonging to the order of Decapoda, family Panaeidae, prawns differ aesthetically from shrimps due to their characteristic light grey or brown color, with yellow-purple streaks and long thread-like antennae; once cooked, however, they take on a beautiful pink-orange color.

Commonly called "imperial prawns", a native species of the Mediterranean basin, they are particularly prized and are characterized by their tender and very tasty meat, which should be cooked briefly to maintain their nutritional properties and organoleptic characteristics unaltered.

Low in calories, but rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, they provide proteins with a high biological value and a fair amount of vitamins and mineral salts, in particular phosphorus and calcium; the tough and delicate pulp at the same time lends itself to any type of culinary preparation: from crudités to cooked appetizers, from fried foods to main dishes, each recipe is a triumph of taste and fragrance, suitable to satisfy even the most demanding palates.

Before reviewing the different cooking techniques, however, let's try to understand how to choose and clean prawns: for chef-proof final results.

1. How to Choose Prawns

To choose crustaceans that are very fresh, rely first of all on sight: the color must be bright and vivid, the eyes clear and not glassy, ​​and the head well attached to the body and provided with antennae; the shell must be shiny, firm and free of dark spots.

They must be firm to the touch and not soft; the smell is equally decisive: this must be delicate and pleasant. Prawns can also be purchased frozen, sometimes already deprived of the head. Before proceeding with cooking, transfer them to the refrigerator and let them defrost. In this case they are also cheaper and easier to cook.

2. How to Clean Prawns

First rinse them thoroughly under cold running water to eliminate any residue, then pat them dry with kitchen paper; remove the tail and, with the help of a wooden toothpick, remove the dark filament of the intestine, counting the third ring on the back starting from the tail.

At this point, remove the head and legs, delicately open the rings that form the shell with the help of your hands and remove the pulp.

3. How to Cook Prawns in a Pan

If we use fresh prawns, we must first remove the heads, remove the dark filament of the intestine with the help of a wooden toothpick and then rinse them thoroughly under cold running water. Prepare a soffritto with garlic, parsley, chili pepper and extra virgin olive oil, and then quickly sauté the crustaceans in a pan, deglazing everything with lemon juice.

Tasty and fragrant, pan-fried prawns are a simple and quick second course, perfect for solving any fish-based lunch or dinner. All you need to do is accompany them with a seasonal side dish and a few slices of toasted bread to have a complete and nutritious meal, suitable for the whole family.

To preserve the delicacy and meatiness of the crustaceans, it is important to cook them for just a few minutes, just long enough for the meat to become pink and tender; if you like, you can omit the chili pepper, if you don't like it, and moisten the prawns with orange juice, white wine or a cup of full fat coconut milk, to obtain a creamy dish with an exotic note.

For a touch of color and extra flavor, you can add some fresh datterini tomatoes and use this sauce to dress a pasta or risotto; you can also combine them with an octopus and potato salad, serving them as a tasty seafood appetizer, add a spoonful of natural Greek yogurt when almost cooked and pair them with a basmati rice cake. Obviously, instead of the prawns, you can use shrimp or king prawns.

4. How to Cook Prawns on The Grill

Another ideal cooking technique for this type of crustacean is the grill. In this case you will have to clean the prawns, taking care not to shell them, and then leave them to marinate with an emulsion based on extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and aromatic herbs to taste.

Once well seasoned, they are placed on a very hot grill and cooked for a few minutes per side, brushing them gradually with the remaining marinade. Fragrant and succulent, grilled prawns are an easy and super quick main dish, perfect for an express lunch or a fish dinner with special guests.

You can accompany them with a few lemon wedges and a side of grilled vegetables, add them to a mixed salad or serve them on a bed of lettuce and offer them as a tasty appetizer together with a homemade mayonnaise. If you want, you can change the ingredients of the dressing, using other aromatic herbs or spices, such as thyme, sweet curry, ginger or pink pepper.

As a substitute for prawns, you can opt for shrimps or king prawns: the important thing is to buy them very fresh from your trusted fishmonger, with a good sea smell, a firm shell and the head well attached to the body.

Furthermore, for an impeccable result, it is essential to cook the shellfish carefully respecting the timing and brush them with the remaining emulsion with the heat off: in this way, they will remain tender and juicy.

5. How to Cook Prawns in The Oven

Among the most suitable cooking methods for this fish species we definitely find the oven one. Ready in just a few minutes, they are an easy and quick main dish, suitable for any occasion: from an express lunch to a festive dinner, such as Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.

All you need to do is clean the prawns without shelling them, place them in a baking dish with a clove of garlic and an emulsion made from extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and chopped parsley, then bake them for about ten minutes, so that they remain tender and juicy: you will know they are perfectly cooked when the shell takes on a beautiful bright orange color.

Depending on availability, you can use either fresh or frozen prawns, leaving them to defrost in the refrigerator, Argentine prawns or scampi; the important thing, for an impeccable result, is that they are very fresh, shiny and meaty, with a pleasant smell and the head still well attached to the body.

You can pair the dish with a crunchy salad, such as orange and fennel, a side dish of gratinated vegetables or any other seasonal vegetable you like; you can also serve them as an appetizer, placing them on a bed of lettuce and accompanying them with an octopus salad and mixed fried fish, two other great classics of seafood cuisine.

Alternatively, for an even tastier and more fragrant dish, you can prepare the prawns au gratin, coating them in a rich breadcrumb coating before cooking them in the oven.

6. How to Cook Fried Prawns

If it is true that "everything is good when fried", the saying is even more true for shellfish and prawns in particular. For perfect frying, it is important to use an oil that is particularly suitable for frying, with a neutral flavor, odorless and a high smoke point: the best is undoubtedly peanut oil.

The recipe is very simple and within everyone's reach: you just need to clean the prawns, rinsing them under running water and then patting them dry with kitchen paper, then pass them in flour and fry them in plenty of very hot seed oil; crunchy and irresistible, you can serve them as an appetizer for a fish dinner or finger food for an aperitif or a party buffet, garnished with a delicious sauce made from yogurt, mustard and lemon juice.

For a more consistent breading you can pass the crustaceans in the egg and then in the flour, even coconut for a pleasant exotic note, or you can make a batter with 00 flour and sparkling water; in the latter case make sure that the water is very cold: the thermal shock between the batter and the boiling oil will give a truly irresistible browning and fragrance.

7. How to Steam Prawns

If you want a light and very delicate dish, steaming is just right for you. You simply have to clean the prawns, taking care to eliminate the dark filament of the intestine, place them on the steamer basket and cook them for a few minutes, just long enough for the crustacean flesh to become slightly pink and tender to the touch.

At this point you can season them with an emulsion made from lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and salt, and enjoy them with a seasonal side dish and a few slices of toasted rye bread; or use them to enrich a mixed salad made with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, julienned carrots, avocado and Taggiasca olives. You can add them to basmati rice, to complete the meal with a high biological value protein source, or prepare a dish with potatoes and calamari, to take to the beach or the office.

To make the dish even more aromatic, you can also flavor the water that will be placed inside the basket by adding a few slices of orange and lemon, a piece of fresh ginger and some aromatic herbs of your choice: the aroma will be truly irresistible.

8. How to Cook Prawns in The Air Fryer

It's too hot and you don't feel like turning on the oven? Here comes the air fryer to the rescue, a revolutionary appliance that, by exploiting the strength and speed of heat, allows us to bring light and very satisfying dishes to the table in just a few minutes.

You will simply have to clean your crustaceans, leaving the shell intact, arrange them inside the basket, season them with a drizzle of oil, lemon juice and salt and cook them at 360°F/180°C for 6-8 minutes (the time also depends on their size and the power of your air fryer). You can also leave them to marinate in an emulsion of oil, white wine and aromatic herbs for about half an hour, before proceeding with cooking, or pass them in panko, in a quick batter or in breadcrumbs, sprinkle them with a little oil and leave them to brown again for a few minutes, just long enough for them to become tender in the center and golden on the surface.

9. How to Pair Prawns With First Courses

Perfect for creating simple and super tasty second courses, prawns, like all shellfish, are also appreciated when paired with pasta or risottos, for elegant and refined first courses. You can cook the prawns, once cleaned, in a pan with oil, fresh tomatoes, chili pepper and white wine, pour in the pasta, boiled in salted water and drained very al dente, then mix everything together over a high flame.

The result will be a dish with typically Mediterranean aromas, ready in just a few minutes, ideal for a festive lunch, a romantic dinner for two or an elegant evening with special guests. If you love to experiment, we recommend you also try the version with burrata, for a real explosion of flavor, with zucchini, with a delicate flavor, or with pesto, fragrant and with an enveloping consistency.

If you love cereals, you can't miss the refined risotto, flavored with lemon juice and enriched with tender pieces of shellfish pulp, the variant with zucchini flowers or the one with asparagus, both to be prepared during the spring season, when these vegetables express their best in terms of flavour and aroma.