If you don’t shy away from adventure in the kitchen, you will love our recipes for homemade spot prawns!

We bought 3 pounds of fresh, live spot prawns from a neighbourhood shop right at the end of spot prawn season here in Vancouver, British Columbia. That amounted to something like 35-40 spot prawns. We didn’t want to make them all the same way, so we thought about how we could experience them in different ways. Based on inspiration from some of our recent dining experiences with spot prawns, we came up with three interesting ways to easily prepare spot prawns in the comfort of our own kitchen!

We started by making a homemade spot prawn crudo using 12 of the spot prawns in our batch. This is a very fresh tasting option and it’s very easy!

First, squeeze the juice from one lime into a bowl. Next, remove the heads and shells from 12 spot prawns. The easiest way to do this is to grab the spot prawn by the lower half of its body and then twist the head off while pulling. The spot prawns should be alive, so be prepared for them to put up a struggle! This can be a bit daunting at the start, but you’ll develop confidence after a few minutes. Once the heads are off, peel back the shell and rinse the spot prawn meat to clean it off.

Once you have removed the heads and shells from 12 spot prawns, chop six mint leaves, one quarter of a cucumber, and 1/3 of a jalapeño. Mix all of that (except half of the chopped mint) together in the bowl with the lemon juice. Stir to ensure that the spot prawns are all exposed to the lime juice. Once you have stirred, let the mixture sit for at least 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, the spot prawns should have become less translucent. They should now look white. That means they are done! In essence, the acid from the lime has cooked the spot prawns and they are now no longer raw. It’s the same way that ceviche is made.

Transfer the spot prawns to a plate, pour the lime juice overtop, pour a few table spoons of olive oil overtop, and garnish with the remaining chopped mint leaves. Enjoy with some gluten free crackers (we recommend almond crackers) and viola! You will love the fresh, uplifting taste of these crudo spot prawns.

But that’s not the end of it! After you’ve enjoy your spot prawn crudo, take another 12 or so of the spot prawns and toss them into a pot of boiling water. This time, there is no need to remove the heads and shells. Make sure to salt the water. In addition, squeeze in the juice of a full lemon and throw the lemon halves into the boiling water as well.

The spot prawns only need to cook for 3-4 minutes. Once done, drain them and put them in a bowl to cook. Meanwhile, put a small pot on the stove and melt 1/4th a cup of butter together with four minced garlic cloves. By the time the butter melts and mixes with the garlic, your spot prawns should have cooled down enough to handle them.

Now, remove the heads and shells from the spot prawns as you eat them. Make sure to dip them in the garlic butter as you go. You will love the taste of these beauties, and the work of removing the shells will be well worth the effort!

Now for the last method of preparing homemade spot prawns. Take a pan and pour in the left over garlic butter from the last spot prawn dish. Then, add a handful of chopped onions together with the remaining jalapeño (chop them up into thin circles for the best effect). Get the contents of the pan sizzling, turn up the heat to max, and then add in the remaining spot prawns (but be sure to wash them thoroughly first).

Cover and let them fry for a minute or two before flipping them over for another minute or two. Watch to make sure the butter and other contents do not burn. After the second side has had a minute or two on the pan, transfer them onto a serving plate. And that’s it! Allow the spot prawns a few minutes to cool, and then enjoy!

We hope you enjoy making homemade spot prawns as much as we did! They are super versatile and it’s easy to get creative with them. Just make sure to cook them while they are still live and fresh!

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If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to read about our other culinary adventures sharing our gluten-free and dairy-free experiences such as Hunter Gather Breakfast Spot in Whistler, Quick Dinner at Tractor Foods on West 4th, and Teahouse in Stanley Park.