Shoku-Iku Recipes: Prawn Barbecue

Get stuck into BBQ season with this super simple Eastern take on prawns by chef Makiko Sano. Her cookbook Shoku-Iku is all about changing the way that we look at our food; it advocates the Japanese idea of conscious eating and being more mindful of all of our food choices.

We love this fresh, zesty prawn recipe. it bursts with flavour and can go from pan to plate in mere minutes.

Prawn Barbecue recipe

These prawns have a great flavour balance between the lemon and the garlic. Despite containing no hot spices, this dish nevertheless gives a bit of a kick.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 3
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tbsp sake
1 tsp grated garlic
5 tbsp lemon juice, plus lemon wedges to serve (optional)
½ tsp freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp sea salt
15 tiger prawns, heads removed, shelled and deveined
5 spring onions, sliced into julienne

METHOD

Put the grapeseed oil, sake, garlic, lemon juice, pepper and salt in a plastic food bag, add the prawns, close the bag and massage to coat. Leave for two hours in the fridge. If you want to serve them on bamboo skewers, soak the skewers for at least 30 minutes, so they don’t catch fire in the pan.

When you’re ready to cook, you can thread the prawns on to bamboo skewers. Otherwise just cook them as they are.

Place a large frying pan over a medium heat and allow to get hot. Add the prawns and their marinade and cook for two minutes on each side.

Transfer the prawns and sauce to a serving dish and sprinkle with spring onions. Serve with lemon wedges, if you like.

Recipe extracted from Shoku-Iku by Makiko Sano (Quadrille Press, Hardback £14.99)