Cold Salad of Wok-Seared Prawns in Their Shells

This is a great way to cook truly fresh prawns, the increasingly uncommon sort that have never suffered the indignities of freezing or preservative-bleaching and are consequently hard to get and pricey. We get them only sporadically, primarily from Santa Barbara and the Texas gulf, and the sweet firm flesh is heavenly.

While this recipe details a room-temperature composed salad presented with China Moon pickles, the prawns can also be served freshly seared and hot as an entrée, alon