Sea salt and pink pepper prawns, green jalapeño and ginger dipping sauce
Fat, juicy prawns rubbed in a quick sea salt and peppercorn mix, served with a sweet ’n’ fiery dipping sauce and citrus wedges. So summery.
Ingredients
For the salt and pepper mix
- 2 tbsp pink peppercorns
- 1 tbsp white peppercorns
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 6 whole allspice berries
- 50g/1¾oz Cornish sea salt
For the dipping sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- ½ fresh green jalapeño, chopped
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú pickled ginger, chopped
- 25g/1oz rice wine vinegar
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú honey
- 30g/1oz sweet chilli sauce
- ½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 250ml/9fl oz orange juice
For the prawns
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 large prawns, heads on, shells on, de-veined
- 1 lemon, zest finely grated
- 1 lime, zest finely grated
- 10²µ/â…“o³ú fresh coriander including the stalks, roughly chopped
Method
For the salt and pepper mix, put a small frying pan over a medium heat and add the peppercorns and allspice berries. Toast for around 2 minutes to release their flavour.
Transfer to a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and blend or grind to a cracked, coarse mixture. Stir through the salt. This seasoning mix will keep for a few months in an airtight container.
For the dipping sauce, warm the sesame oil in a medium-sized saucepan and add the shallot, garlic and jalapeño. Cook for 2 minutes to soften the vegetables. Add the ginger and cook for another minute, making sure to stir.
Add the rice wine vinegar and turn up the heat. Simmer until the liquid has mostly evaporated, then add the honey and sweet chilli sauce and bring to a bubble. Stir in the soy sauce and orange juice and bring to a simmer. Reduce the sauce by about half until you have a thick consistency. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
Now cook your prawns. Put a large frying pan over a high heat and add the olive oil. Season the prawns liberally with the salt and pepper seasoning. When the oil is hot, add the prawns one by one, very carefully. Fry the prawns on both sides for about 45 seconds each side. Once the prawns are done, take them out of the pan and place on a large serving platter or board.
Finish the prawns with finely grated lemon, lime and a sprinkle of chopped coriander. Cut the lemon and lime into wedges. Serve the prawns with your dipping sauce and the citrus wedges – prepare yourself for how good your fingers are going to taste when you peel the shells off!
Recipe Tips
Snip your prawns with a pair of scissors down the top of the head to the tail. This makes the prawns so much easier to peel, and so much easier to get to the meat once cooked (it will let all the flavour in, too).
