Once upon a time, on a dark and snowy January afternoon, a little girl was collected by her daddy from school as a surprise. They went off into the big city, went to the cinema, watched Snow White, then went to a Chinese restaurant with a moving waterfall picture. Just as it couldn’t get any better, it did: she tried king prawns.
Yep, that was me. I was either 5 or 6. My brother was pretty little at that time, so I think my parents must have decided on this being the best way of doing a birthday treat. It took many years for me to realise that the meal out was in fact a birthday one. My main memories are of the snow, the surprise, the waterfall picture and the jumbo prawns.
Prawns, for all of their choice in food intake, are still good for you – low in fat, if I remember. But I love the little bit of give (not quite crunch) when you bite in. I can do the ones where you shell them – a bit – though larger ones that need a lot of shelling are a lot of effort for not much reward.
I love the pale pink of prawns. My second main memory of prawns is as that once ubiquitous starter, prawn cocktail. Dad would make this for us as a treat from time to time. There would be a rummaging in the court cupboard to find the posh glasses that could be used for trifles and the like, but that were a good size for prawns too.
Part of the appeal was, no doubt, the marie rose sauce. Given that small children generally like ketchup, and I have a great fondness for mayonnaise, there was no not liking to be done. Lettuce: probably floppy, lamb’s lettuce type, or maybe iceberg. But the colour contrasts are still worth it.
I decided to try making prawn cocktail myself a few years ago. It’s a bit of a favourite when the weather is warmer, and you don’t really want to cook. I do like it with iceberg, for a bit of crunch to offset the prawns.
For some reason, I also took to putting a chopped apple in too, skin on, for some more crunch and colour contrast. And if you need some carbs, it’s rather good with oatcakes alongside.
Jumbo prawns do stay in my mind in Chinese restaurant contexts. I know you can get prawn curries, but it doesn’t quite feel right.
Though I stretched a point by making a Thai curry with prawns (from Nigella Express), last autumn, and have been happily making it since. The prawns sit well against some sweet potato, with some chopped mango in the sauce for a little additional sweetness.
Lots of good textures, and some great warmth – welcome in the winter, on wet Friday nights when it’s been a long week and you need something with some spice that doesn’t need much chewing either. (Not that chewing is exhausting, but you know what I mean.)
On the occasion that multipack sandwiches are bought and shared, I generally eat the prawn and mayo one. It may seem like an act of public service, written like that, but really it’s a cunning scheme to make sure I get some prawns. I’ll even forgo some crispy bacon in the BLT one for them.