Creamy Prawns
Aperçu
Creamy prawns are a South African restaurant and home staple, and the country's long coastline and its Cape Malay and Portuguese-Mozambican influences are why seafood sits so comfortably in its cooking. Prawns are cooked briefly with onion and garlic, lifted out, and returned to a cream sauce reduced in the same pan. Chermoula is the ingredient that places it. It is a North African marinade, Moroccan and Algerian in origin, built on coriander, cumin, garlic, paprika and lemon, and its appearance in a South African prawn dish reflects how freely spice blends move around the continent. A seafood rub carries the rest. The contributor makes a comparison worth repeating: prawns are seen as a high-end, classy food, and they describe them as the mopane worms of the ocean. Mopane worms are the caterpillars harvested and eaten across southern Africa, nutritious, cheap and utterly unglamorous outside the region. Putting the two side by side is a fair point about how arbitrary food status is, and it is the kind of observation that belongs in the record rather than being tidied away.
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Creamy prawns belong to South African seafood cooking, shaped by the country's coastline and by Cape Malay and Portuguese-Mozambican influence. The chermoula used to season them is a North African spice blend.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
In a pan over medium heat, add the canola oil, then the onion and garlic, and fry until the onion starts to look translucent.
- 2
Add the prawns and mix well, then add the spices and fry for 5 minutes, or until the prawns start to turn pink.
- 3
Remove the prawns from the pan.
- 4
In the same pan, pour in the cream and let it simmer for a few minutes.
- 5
As the cream starts to bubble, return the prawns to the pan.
- 6
Let the mixture simmer until the cream thickens, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- 7
Serve hot with rice, bread or your preferred side.
Notes de l’Africook
Notes personnelles de Tshego Stone- Take the prawns out while the cream reduces. Left in for the full ten minutes they turn rubbery, and this single step is what the recipe is built around.
- Prawns are done the moment they turn pink and curl. Judge by colour, not by the clock.
- Reduce the cream properly before the prawns go back. It thickens by evaporation, and adding anything to speed it up changes the sauce.
- Chermoula is a North African blend of coriander, cumin, garlic, paprika and lemon. Any of those in combination approximates it if you cannot find the blend.
- Use fresh cream rather than a lighter one. Low fat cream splits when reduced this hard.
- Serve with bread if nothing else. The sauce is the best part and needs something to catch it.
Questions fréquentes
What is chermoula?
Chermoula is a North African marinade and spice blend, Moroccan and Algerian in origin, built on fresh coriander, cumin, garlic, paprika and lemon, often with chilli. It is traditionally used with fish. Its presence in a South African prawn dish reflects how freely spice blends travel around the continent.
Why remove the prawns and put them back?
Because prawns cook in two or three minutes and the cream needs seven or eight to reduce. Left in the pan throughout, they overcook and turn rubbery. Taking them out and returning them once the sauce has thickened is the entire technique of the dish.
Can I use frozen prawns?
Yes, and most people do. Thaw them completely and pat them dry first, since prawns release a lot of water and wet ones will steam rather than fry and thin the sauce. Frozen raw prawns are better than pre-cooked, which have already been cooked once and go tough immediately.
What is it served with?
Rice most often, or bread to soak up the sauce. Pap is a common South African pairing. It is rich enough that a plain starch alongside is the right choice, and something to catch the cream matters more than what exactly it is.
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nice simple recipe for a weeknight. I used Robertsons garlic and a full 250ml carton of Clover fresh cream. The chermoula gives a lekker flavor but 1 tablespoon of seafood rub made the sauce slightly too salty for my kids, so next time I will drop the rub to two teaspoons. Prawns were soft and cooked perfectly though.
Was skeptical about using chermoula spice with fresh cream because we don't usually mix cream like that in my kitchen o, but abeg it turned out so fine! My husband cleaned his plate. Just make sure you don't overcook the prawns when frying them for those 5 minutes before removing them or they get rubbery. e sweet sha!
Made this last night on the skottel while the braai wood was burning down. Taking out the prawns before pouring the 250ml cream into the pan is a master move, keeps them plump. Baie lekker with some toasted garlic loaf to mop up that chermoula sauce.