If you always wanted to cook real Mexican food, try this Spicy Prawns, that I prepared for my weekly column Food on Fridays.

This recipe was originally posted on the City University London Student Media website.  Check it out, you may find something you like.

 

Food on Fridays

Maria has yet another delicious recipe for us this week, as she cooks up a dish with a twist from her homeland…

Have you ever wanted to go to a restaurant for a while and then when you actually go you are left disappointed?

Well, that is what happened to me last week, when I was looking forward to stuffing myself with some authentic Mexican food, and the only authentic thing about the place were the photographs on the wall.

Have I ever mentioned that I am Mexican? No? Ups, it must have slipped my mind.

Visiting that restaurant made me realise that it was about time I showed you all a little bit of real Mexican cooking.

I am on a mission to vindicate seafood and fish, today we are going to prepare Mexican style Prawns; you can use Crevettes if you like. But next week I might show you how to make a Chilli con Carne the traditional Mexican way, believe me it is nothing like what you will have seen on the tin.

Oh and before I give you the recipe, let me clarify something, Mexican food is largely prepared using chillies – yes – but not everything is spicy.
It depends on the amount you use on the recipe; I prefer it mild, but if you like to leave your tongue numb, go ahead and use more chilli. For this recipe I used 1 ½ teaspoons of chilli flakes but adjust it to your liking.

Even if you don’t like it spicy, I recommend you to try using a little bit of chilli – just to see how it deepens the other flavours. To accompany the prawns we are also going to make a Tomato and Mango salsa, this one is not so traditional but rather an adaptation of mine.

I really like this dish so I hope you like it too, and who knows you could serve it to your friends or your next date.

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Whatever you do, have a lovely weekend and enjoy!

Mexican Style Prawns:

Mango and Tomato Salsa Ingredients:
1 tomato
A quarter of mango cut into cubes
A teaspoon of olive oil
The green leaves from a spring onion
Sea Salt and Black Pepper

For the Prawns:
200gms of King Prawns or Crevettes
2 Garlic cloves
1 knob of Butter
A small thumb of fresh ginger
1 or 2 teaspoons of chilli flakes, even 3 if you feel adventurous!
1 large spring onion
½ cup of hot water

Method:
Start by soaking the chilli flakes in hot water; leave them to rest for at least half an hour. The longer you leave them the better the flavour will be.

Meanwhile de-seed the tomato by cutting it into four as shown in the picture and using a spoon scoop the seeds out. Then chop the tomato into cubes.

Mix the tomato cubes with the mango ones in a bowl.

Slice the spring onion and add it to the chilli water. Continue by slicing some of the green leaves of the spring onion and mix them in with the cubed fruit.

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the mixture and then add a teaspoon or less of Olive oil, and a spoonful of the chilli water. Mix in well all the ingredients and set aside.

For the prawns: 

You can peel the prawns before you cook them or you can cook them in their shells which will enhance their flavour and prevent them from shrinking too much.

Chop the garlic and the ginger and add them to the rest of the chilli water.

Heat half of the butter on a pan, and start to cook the prawns it. When the butter starts to bubble pour the chilli water and keep stirring them.

You will need to be careful here as prawns cook very quickly, and if you leave them for too long they will go chewy. You can tell when they are cooked because their colour changes from greyish tone to a coral (pink/orange) colour.

The larger the prawns the longer the cooking time, but the regular size normally take around 4 to 5 minutes to be cooked.

Once you have cooked them, you can either peel them or serve them as they are. Dish them up with the mango salsa and whatever you fancy.

If you want to prepare an authentic Mexican dish, then boil some rice and serve them with it.

However I prefer them with salad as I find it a bit too dry with the rice and also the flavours are stronger with the salad.

So, how do you like your Mexican Prawns?