It was a beautiful weekend to grill some prawns (otherwise known as large shrimp)! I came across this recipe for grilled head-on prawns in one of my Bon Appétit magazines and it looked too delicious not to make. Get the recipe below along with some photography tips for how I shot it!
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Food Photography Tips for Grilled Head On Prawns
I love shooting seafood. It might be my favorite food to shoot. Since it was a beautiful day to grill, I decided to shoot the prawns outside right as we took them off the grill to capture them at their freshest.
Get A Food Styling Kit
With garnish and food photography it’s better to start with a little and add more as you go. It’s easier to add more rather than have to backup and remove small pieces of garnish. But, we all have overdone it with the garnish sometimes. I have this food styling kit in my home studio which includes a variety of different sized spoons, tongs and finger grips. It helps me carefully remove small pieces of garnish or move things around without having to use my fingers and disrupt the rest of the plated food.
READ MORE ABOUT: FOOD STYLING TOOLS EVERY PHOTOGRAPHER SHOULD HAVE
Recipe Notes for Grilled Head On Prawns
For some people, the idea of head-on prawns might freak them out. If that’s you, don’t worry. You can use regular shrimp instead. If you’re willing to include the head, it’s considered a delicacy. The flavors are more complex because the meat and fat from the head cooks with the rest of the body. And, as we all know… fat equals flavor.
How To Devein Shrimp
This was our first time deveining head-on prawns, so we learned a few tips and tricks and picked up some deveining and tools that made the process a lot easier.
- Use kitchen sheers to cut the back of the shell open, exposing the vein.
- Run the shrimp under cold water and gently use a shrimp deveiner tool to remove the vein. If you don’t have a deveiner, you can also use a knife. But, I find the deveiner tool to be much easier to use because it’s more precise and less messy.
- We grilled outside so Mike could use his new diamond shaped grill grate. If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can also make this recipe inside. We use this indoor grilling pan when we can’t grill outside.
I love the simple combination of olive oil, minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and parsley for the sauce. It tastes really good with the shrimp and the hint of red pepper flakes adds a nice, but subtle kick. This is definitely one of my favorite grilling recipes and I’d love to know what you think!
Thanks for the inspiration Bon Appétit!
Happy Cooking!
Grilled Head-On Prawns with Garlic and Parsley
This recipe for Grilled Head-On Prawns is a delicacy and pairs well with a crisp, dry white wine.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for grill
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 12 head-on, tail-on prawns or jumbo shrimp
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Lemon wedges (for serving)
Instructions
- Prepare grill for medium-high heat and oil the grate.
- Combine garlic, parsley, red pepper flakes, and 4 tablespoons of oil in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Working one at a time, use kitchen shears to cut along the back of each prawn just deep enough into flesh to expose vein; remove vein and rinse under cold water.
- Toss prawns with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in another medium bowl.
- Season with kosher salt and pepper.
- Grill the prawns, turning occasionally, until shells are bright red and meat is cooked through (the flesh will look slightly opaque), about 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer prawns (or shrimp) to a bowl adding garlic-parsley mixture and toss to coat.
- Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Serve with lemon wedges and enjoy!
Notes
Adapted from Bon Appétit.
This post contains affiliate links which means if you click or make a purchase through my site, I might make a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only promote products that I actually use and support.
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All images © Regan Baroni 2015.
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