King prawns with spiced honey, butter and crispy capers
starterDetails
- Prep time:
- 20 mins
- Cook time:
- 10 mins
- Suitable for:
- Everyone
- Serves:
- 4
- Provided by:
- Tama Carey
A king prawn under the grill or on the BBQ screams Australia!
We love the flavour a slightly charred shell gives and especially enjoy the extra flavour you get from all the goodness found in a prawn head. This recipe can be just as easily done on a barbecue or chargrilled on your stove. Preparing prawns this way can be a little fiddly, but it’s worth it as the shell protects the flesh and, once cooked, it’s very easy to get to all the succulent meat.
You can make the spiced honey beforehand.
Ingredients
- 12 large, uncooked king prawns
- 80g butter
- 1 tbsp capers
- 2 tbsp spiced Haughton Honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Salt and white pepper
- FOR THE SPICED HONEY: 100ml Haughton Honey
- 30ml of water
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 1 piece of lemon peel
Instructions
- TO MAKE THE SPICED HONEY - in a small saucepan combine the honey, water, black peppercorns, fennel seeds, bay leaf, sprig of rosemary and the lemon peel. Bring it to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let it sit until it cools to room temperature, allowing all the flavours to infuse. At this stage you can strain the honey into a jar but if you don’t mind a few stray herbs, let them sit in the honey.
- To prepare your prawns, get some scissors and carefully cut up the shell, along the back, in a shallow manner, starting from the tail. Once you reach the head, keep cutting in half, but go in a little deeper. Use a small knife to remove the intestine line. Then use a sharp knife to gently butterfly the prawn along the back from top to bottom. Once you’ve done this, you should be able to open out the prawn shell, so it sits flat in half with its head split open. Rub a little oil all over your prawn and season.
- In a small hot pan, add your butter, a little salt and the capers. Cook, swirling occasionally until the capers start to pop and sizzle, and the butter starts to brown. Add in the spiced honey, stir and bring it to the boil. Let it simmer for a minute or so before adding in the lemon juice, giving it another little swirl and remove from the heat. Keep your pan somewhere warm.
- Meanwhile, you should have your barbecue or grill nice and hot. Place your prawns on it, shell down, and use a pastry brush to rub the prawn flesh with your honey mix. The prawns should only take about 2 minutes to cook. As you take them off the grill, let them sit a moment flesh down in your pan of honey, so they can suck up some extra flavour.
- Serve on a large platter with the remaining honey and caper mix poured over.
- NOTE - you can also do this dish by laying out the prawns on a baking dish in a single layer, pouring the honey mix straight on top and roasting them in a hot oven or under a grill for a couple of minutes.
Notes for the cook: if you have a fan-assisted oven then reduce the specified temperature in the recipe by about 15% ~ 1 teaspoon = 5ml and 1 tablespoon = 15ml ~ some ingredients are measured in cups and some equivalents are; 150g, 6oz (1/2 cup) = 120ml, 4fl oz