I love this recipe, and I love these prawns!
BC Spot Prawns are a very special fishery, a premium and prized one on the West Coast and one with a very short fishing season from the end of May until midway thru June.
Shopping for these jewels can a fun adventure as you can go directly done to the docks up and down the coast of BC and buy these delicacies directly from the fishers, paying a fair price to the fisher for their catch, keeping that financial support in the community where the fishermen and women have dedicated their careers and lives to harvesting these gifts and sharing them with our families dinner tables.
Ingredients:
Serves 2-4 people
-2-3 lbs prawns, gently cooked and chilled
-2-3 large tostadas per person (you can make these/fry these yourself or you can buy them from a great asian or mexican/south america grocery.
-2-3 ripe avocados, peeled and smashed and seasoned with a pinch of sea salt, a glug of olive oil and a generous squeeze of lemon or lime
-6-8 radishes, sliced thin
-2 mini cucumbers, sliced thin
-togarashi spice, optional, available at a local asian market
-toasted sesame seeds
-3-4 tbsp thin sliced green onions (or chives or even fresh cilantro if you like it)
Honey Miso Lime Dressing
You will want to make extra dressing so I have made the quantity a bit larger
-2.5 cups canola oil
-1 cup lime juice, approx 8 limes, with zest as well (lemon juice and zest can be substituted)
-½ cup honey (or maple)
-¼ cup dijon mustard
-⅛ cup miso paste
-2 tbsp sea salt
Optional: you could add 1 tbsp of chili paste or hot sauce to spice it up
-blend the mustard, miso and lime juice/zest together in a blender over low speed
-slowly add all the oil
-add the salt 1 tbsp at a time and adjust by adding more of you think it needs it
-place in a jar and refrigerate for up to 1 month
Cooking the Prawns:
BC spot prawns are a very special fishery, one with a very short fishing season from end of May until midway thru June.
Shopping for these jewels can a fun adventure as you can go directly done to the docks up and down the coast of BC and buy these delicacies directly from the fishers, paying a fair price to the fisher for their catch, keeping that money in the community where the fishermen and women have dedicated their careers and lives to harvesting these gifts and sharing them with our families dinner tables.
First, you will need to clean the heads off the bodies
–you can also buy spot prawn tails, frozen at sea, available year round
In a medium size pot of simmering water, plunge the prawn tails in the boiling water for 10-15 seconds, quickly remove and submerge the prawn tails in an ice water bath
-once chilled, peel the prawn shells of the prawn tails
Assembly:
Serve these family style on a platter or individually
-spoon some of the avocado on each tostada
-lay 1-2 spot prawns on top of the avocado
-garnish with the radishes, the cucumbers and the green onions and generously sprinkle with the sesame seeds and the togarashi spice
-last but not least, spoon ample dressing all over the prawns and the tostadas
If you want you could squeeze some additional lime on top, or add a lime wedge per person as a garnish for them
Enjoy!
Chef Ned Bell