Recipe by: Nécole King
This is an exceedingly simple, quick, and impressive way to prepare Whidbey Seafood’s beautiful prawns - be they spot prawns, or side stripe shrimp. Camarão Frites is a traditional southern Portugal recipe, typically eaten as an appetizer, and served with loads of crusty bread to sop up the scrumptious sauce. It’s also perfect as a pasta topping, served with a big salad, or over risotto. Ingredients are minimal, thus fully allowing the fresh, clean taste of the prawns to shine through.
A note on the recipe, for those with food sensitivities: For the fat in the recipe, using a mixture of butter and oil adds a lovely depth and richness to the sauce. If dairy-free, simply replace a milk-based butter with a dairy-free version - I prefer Miyoko’s for its close flavor approximation and fat content - or use olive oil only. Still a beautiful dish.
This recipe serves 2 people as a main course, or 3-4 as an appetizer or pasta topping
Ingredients
- 1 lb spot prawns, or side stripe shrimp (from two 8 oz packs) - defrosted in fridge overnight
- 2 TBS butter
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 3-4 minced garlic cloves
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¼ - ½ tsp crushed red chili flakes (or freshly ground black pepper, if preferred)
- Fresh squeezed lemon juice - from ½ large lemon
- Parsley, chopped - a large handful
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Melt butter and olive oil in a medium large skillet, over medium-low heat. Once melted, sauté garlic until fragrant, approximately one minute.
- Add the white wine, increase the heat to medium to bring liquid to a simmer, and cook to reduce by about half - 6 to 10 minutes, depending on your stove. Once reduced, toss in your salt, and red or black pepper.
- Add in prawns, and sauté briefly. Depending on size (spot prawns tend to run larger than side stripe, and will take a bit longer), this will take 1 to 2 minutes per side. Top tip: if your shrimp curls up tightly, it’s overdone. You’re looking for the shrimp to turn opaque, and firm up. Once the shrimp is cooked, turn off the heat, stir in lemon juice and parsley, and taste the sauce for seasoning. Enjoy!
*If serving over pasta, add ¼ cup of pasta cooking water to create a silky, delicious sauce, then toss the shrimp and sauce with the cooked pasta.
About the author: Nécole has lived on South Whidbey for the past ten years, somewhat settled after years traveling and living around the globe. She spent those years soaking up the culture, the spirit, and the food in idylls she was fortunate to call home: Southern Portugal, the UK, and New Zealand, among them. Ultimately, Nécole was drawn back to her native Pacific Northwest, where she delights in reframing tasty, yet deceptively simple recipes learned overseas, making the most of the bounty of our PNW produce and seafood.
