Prawns Nacional Recipes

PRAWNS PERI PERI MOZAMBIQUE

Steps:

• Prepare Peri Peri sauce first, by sauteeing onion and garlic in Peri Peri oil until soft, then add diced tomatoes, stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes on low heat, covered. After 20 minutes adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and keep warm. Reheat rice over a colander of boiling water, adding frozen sweet green peas 5 minutes before service.
• Bring olive oil to a hot smoke temperature and in batches fry the prawns until crisp, but not over done, about 4 minutes. Remove batches to paper towel and keep hot.
• Serve 6 prawns over savory rice per person and pass bowl of Peri Peri sauce to spoon over prawns. Prawns traditionally eaten shell on with fingers, and crispy heads sucked for flavor.

L M PRAWNS

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients except prawns. Pour half of mixture into another bowl to reserve for use as a sauce. Marinate prawns with rest of mixture for at least a few hours or longer. (Be careful not to get hot pepper mixture in your eyes).
• Remove prawns and set aside. Pour the used marinade into a pan and quickly bring to a boil on the stove.
• Thread the prawns on skewers. Cook over hot grill, turning once and basting with the cooked marinade until pink and done,.
• Serve immediately with the reserved sauce for dipping.

MOZAMBICAN PERI-PERI PRAWNS

Steps:

• Wash the prawns/shrimps and pat dry. Cut open the backs and remove the dark vein. Kitchen scissors work best. Do not remove the shells. Then cut down gently and slightly butterfly the prawns.
• The oil: start the day before, which is best. (Even the week before!)
• You may need to remove seeds from the dried peppers, and then chop them up. Regulate the heat by using more or less!
• Heat the oil gently, do not boil. Use groundnut or sunflower oil, not olive.
• Add all the other ingredients except the prawns. Don't boil. Take off heat, cool, and save in a clean bottle.
• Steep as long as you have time. The oil should colour to a pleasant reddish colour.
• To cook, either put the prepared prawns in a large bowl, add the oil, stir well, and let marinade for 30 minutes up to 3 hours, in the fridge.
• Bake or grill in a hot oven -- 350 deg F/180 deg C, or use your oven grill. Do NOT overcook: they turn pink when done.
• Scoop up with a slotted spoon so the oil drips off, and you can also briefly drain them on scrunched-up kitchen paper.
• Serve in a heap on a hot platter -- with plenty of wet cloths for hands and dipping bowls for fingers! Usually served with rice and some kind of fresh bread. This is not a dish for dainty eating. Use your hands.
• Immensely popular in Maputo, where most of us will find out way to the famous old Costa do Sol restaurant on the sea, a few kilometres up north from Maputo, and order peri-peri prawns -- !