Crispy School Prawns

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 4

800 g school prawns
75 g flour
750 ml vegetable oil (for deep frying)
1 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 c finely sliced spring onions (green bits only)
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c garlic dip
Lemon to serve

Utensils

(a necessary checklist when staying away from home!)
scissors
mixing bowl
sieve (15cm DIAmeter, that can double as a deep-fry scooper)
paper towel
deep pot (for deep frying)
platter

Method

School prawns are mucky little things. 

Trim and remove the excessively long antenna. This is best done by pulling up the hair like antenna and snipping it as close to the prawn head as possible. A few heads may separate from their bodies, you can choose to keep or discard these. I do a mix… they are delicious but as this job is tedious I find it easy to just get rid of a few when tangled in the knots of antenna. 

Rinse them well to remove the sootiness of them if needed. 

Pat with paper towel and allow to dry sitting in a sieve over a bowl in the fridge until ready to fry. 

Preheat the oil over medium high until it is hot. (Test with a piece of bread or flour dusted prawn head for heat… whatever you use should sizzle and begin to golden in 8 seconds or so). 

In a mixing bowl, toss the prawn and the flour until well coated (Best done with a fork or spoons the prawn shells can be spiky). 

Using the sieve - making sure it is THOROUGHLY dry - place a batch of prawns into the THOROUGHLY dry sieve to shake of excess flour and gently lower into the oil. 

Have a paper towel lined plate ready to place the prawns onto once golden, about 1minute. 

Continue frying in batches until all cooked. 

Discard remaining flour, and in the same mixing bowl combine salt, onion powder, ground coriander seed, chilli flakes and spring onions. 

Place the crispy prawns into the mixing bowl and toss with spiced salt. 

In a smaller bowl combine the mayo and garlic dip, and scoop as a large dollop onto the side of the platter. 

Tumble the prawns onto the platter along with some lemon wedges or cheeks. 

Serve immediately, encouraging everyone to eat them whole. 

There is no other way to such crispy delights.