It’s great to be a girl during BBQ season. Call it sexist but it’s unarguable- Man Make Fire. Man push around lumps of meat over fire. Woman cut up salads then sit in the sun with gin.
And on this occasion I didn’t even get salad duty, for the win as the cool kids say. Although I would like to surmise falsely that my winning humour made it a special day for my family types, the star of the afternoon had to be Dad’s BBQ prawns but it was a close call between those and some very good pork ribs. But forget the ribs, we’re talking seafood. Want to make your own? Well you should.
Quantities are tricky for this one as with many marinades I think it’s best to have a little tinker until you find your own perfect blend. The below list should get you started at least.
One bulb of garlic, minced
Fresh ginger, about a 3″ piece, minced
2 or 3 red chillis, fresh and thinly sliced. Seeds in or out to your taste
Juice of one lemon
Pinch of sea salt/ rough rock salt
A good squeeze of maple syrup
A good slug of vodka.
Maybe another slug of vodka. Just in case.
Get your prawns, preferably tiger or king prawns, shell on (they should be gutted, which will leave a handy slit down the back) and split into several zip lock plastic bags. You can, if you wish, take some strips of chilli and press these into the cleaned gut cavity across the back of the prawns, to give some concentrated kick to the flesh. Mix together your marinade ingredients as above in no particular order and pour in over your prawns. Seal the bags, refrigerate for several hours, over night if you like but you should jiggle them around once in a while and you MUST keep them cold. Note to the wise, taste your marinade before going on the prawns but not after, that way leads to a day in the loo rather than in the sunshine with some yummy grub.
Cooking time as with any BBQ depends on how hot your fire is and how fat your prawns are- just always cook until the flesh has gone fully opaque which shouldn’t be more than 15 mins on a reasonably hot bbq. All done. How easy was that?
Best served on a big plate in the sunshine with some lovely salads and maybe a rib. And a chicken wing. And some potatoes. And a glass of wine. Maybe another chicken wing too.
Variations: Hardcore gastro-boozers may wish to swap the vodka for whiskey- this would work very well with the lemon and ginger for a more firey result. You could swap the maple syrup for some fresh coriander and lightly bruised lemongrass to go for an overall thai effect and it should work with any seafood, however you cook it. I aim to give it a go on some seared scallops in the near future. Enjoy.
Food. Boom. 