Cooking prawns...

Thumpette

Hey all, I am currently trying to cut back on my red meet consumption and lose a bit of cholesterol intake (and fat!) and have replaced most of my yummy steaks and mince dishes with chicken. Now there are many things to do with chicken but I think I would like a change now!

The problem is I aint so keen on fish from my experience so far. I have tried lobster and quite like that, and had a yummy Pakistani curried monkfish, and quite like prawns but apart from that developing my taste in fish is still a work in progress.

I am thinking this evening of trying to make a prawn dish. Was thinking of doing them in a sweet chilli sauce and having it with noodles, but I have never cooked prawns and don’t know where to start. Do you buy them fresh or frozen? Do you need to remove bits and pieces from them before cooking? How long do you cook for?

Any advice appreciated!

foodaholic

hate to break it to you Thumpette but shellfish is actually very high in cholesterol. Its the first thing we tell people to reduce in their diet. But fish is good and oily fish eg salmon and mackeral will increase the HDL (thats the good cholesterol) which helps reduce the LDL (bad cholesterol)

Thumpette

Oh no. Deffo dont think I could eat Salmon or macrel. Smell alone makes me gag.

Should be alright to eat prawns the odd time as a break from chicken? Its hardly as bad as beef is it?

pampootie

foodaholic wrote: »

hate to break it to you Thumpette but shellfish is actually very high in cholesterol. Its the first thing we tell people to reduce in their diet. But fish is good and oily fish eg salmon and mackeral will increase the HDL (thats the good cholesterol) which helps reduce the LDL (bad cholesterol)

Shellfish actually contains less cholesterol than almost all meats. Oily fish is more beneficial due to the HDL intake, as foodaholic said, but having prawns a couple of times a week isn't going to do you any harm if you can't stomach any of the oily types.

krankykitty

I'm not mad on a fishy smell either from fish (lol) but I find marinating the salmon pieces in lemon juice with a bit of salt and pepper takes away some of the fishy flavour.

I know prawns are high in cholesterol but maybe it's just a case of not having too many of them?

Thumpette

Thanks

Would you have any ideas on cooking them? Best to get them frozen or fresh? Do you generally have to put the vein thing out?

krankykitty

Fresh ones will always be more tasty and less rubbery than the pre-cooked ones. You could try asking the fishmonger to take out the veins and shell them for you..

When cooking the pre-cooked ones, i think its best to just gently reheat them, any overheating wont lead to pleasant results!

Crazyivan 1979

I absolutley love fish, there are so many things to do with it.

You can find prawns either fresh with shell, fresh without shell, raw frozen, cooked frozen, or cooked in brine.

Obviously fresh is best, but is expensive and hard to find if you don't live near a decent fish mongers or supermarket.

Only supermarket i've seen them (tiger prawns) in is superquinn in Bray and they are about 80 cent per prawn, these were without shell and you need to remove the dark vein from the back. Probably the most common you'll see in the super market is cooked frozen and cooked in brine. In my opinion I don't think the pre cooked stuff is great for doing currys and the like as they don't absorb as much flavour.

But the stuff in brine is great for doing prawn cocktails or prawn salad wraps, alternatively crayfish is also great for these as well, it's a bit more tangy.

Coley is also a great cheap fish. I frequently do the coley with poached egg that Ray Darcy did on the "restaurant".

Curry Addict

precooked frozen prawn is a waste of money imho.
buy fresh prawn, pull the heads off and remove the shell with a twist, slice down the back to remove the intestine. its disgusting and annoying but at least the prawn will be worth eating rather than a chewy flavourless blob

Kenny_D

Or if you live near a chinese wholesale you can buy an ice block of fresh de-shelled/de-vained king prawns. Just thaw, throw into a pot of water. Bring to boil and you're done

Minder

Dispelling the Cholesterol Myth about Prawns. - 11/12/2003


Perhaps due to their wariness of cholesterol, some consumers limit their intake of shellfish. This may explain why the majority of prawns are bought as a treat in December for the popular Christmas dish - prawn cocktail. While delighted that there’s such a demand for prawns at this time of the year the Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish) is campaigning to dispel the myth about cholesterol and keep prawns on the menu all year round.

People are confused by the message that prawns contain high levels of cholesterol. Cholesterol is only found in foods of animal origin and liver, egg yolk and shellfish are the major sources of dietary cholesterol. However, the level of blood cholesterol is affected more by the amount and type of fat in the diet than the amount of dietary cholesterol. A high intake of saturates, and fat of all types, can increase the amount of cholesterol produced in the liver and so the amount in the blood. This increases the risk of heart disease. Prawns are naturally low in saturated fat, 100g contains only 0.2g.

Prawns have only 99kcal per 100g while other proteins such as beef mince contain 209kcal and 13.5g of fat and grilled sausages contain 294kcal and over 22g of fat. Prawns are even lower in calories and fat than chicken. As well as being high in protein, prawns contain magnesium, which plays a role in bone development and nerve and muscle function; Zinc, which is good for growing bodies, and selenium, an important antioxidant.

Eat the prawns.

Lamacchi

I usually cook prawn this way:

I leave the prawn defrosting in the fridge. When they are totally defrost I cut the back so it's easier to eat them.
I put some olive oil in a nonstick pan I add a clove of garlic and 2/3 chilli peppers cut in small pieces. when the garlic is a little brown I remove it. Then I add the prawns, cover the pan and let them cooked for 1 minute and then I puor half glass of ale beer (my own brew beer) and let it steam for 3/4 minutes. Don't cook too much or the prawns will be tough.
I hope it will be of help!
I love prawn with marie rose sause but it's not very good for your diet!