Josceline Dimbleby

Perparing Prawns

Appears in
The Cook's Companion: A step-by-step guide to cooking skills including original recipes
The Cook's Companion

By Josceline Dimbleby

Published 1991

  • About
Half the joy of eating really fresh cooked prawns is in peeling them yourself.
On the fish counter you will find prawns of varying sizes, ranging from the common prawn to the large Dublin Bay prawns. Cooked prawns with their rosy orange shells are ready for eating or using in dishes such as Italian risotto or Spanish paella.
  • To peel whole prawns pull the heads from the bodies and discard. Pull off the legs first, then remove the body shell, leaving on the tail if you like. With larger prawns you have to remove the thin black intestinal vein that runs along the back with the tip of a small knife. Sometimes the vein is clearly visible and at other times you have to slice along the whole back to find it and pull it out.