Plate 04 of 10

Spot Prawns in Garlic-White Wine Butter

Name: Spot Prawns in Garlic-White Wine Butter
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 23 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Alaska
Ingredients: 900 g, 20 to 24 prawns Wild Alaskan spot prawns, shell on, deveined through a cut along the back, patted dry; 60 g Unsalted European-style butter, chilled and cubed; 30 ml Extra-virgin olive oil; 30 g Garlic, finely minced, not puréed; 40 g Shallot, in fine dice; 120 ml Dry white wine; 30 ml Lemon juice; 15 g Flat-leaf parsley, chopped; 6 g Coarse sea salt; 2 g Crushed red pepper flakes; 1 loaf Warm sourdough, thickly sliced, for the sauce

The sweetest shellfish in North American water, cooked in under three minutes. Shell-on prawns split along the back, seared in a smoking pan for ninety seconds, tossed with garlic and shallot, deglazed with dry white wine, and finished off the heat with cold butter swirled into a glossy emulsion, eaten from the pan with sourdough.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 8 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A skillet of whole coral-red spot prawns glossed in garlic butter and parsley with lemon wedges, on weathered wood by the water.

Spot prawns live in the deep rocky fjords from Prince William Sound to Southeast Alaska, at depths where near-freezing water slows their metabolism and concentrates natural sugars in candy-pink flesh. The white spots on the shell give them their name.

In harbour towns like Valdez, Whittier and Petersburg they are cooked whole in a roaring skillet with garlic, shallot, dry white wine and cold butter, and eaten straight from the pan with sourdough to mop up the sauce. The whole cook is under three minutes; a minute more and the meat clings to the shell.

Ingredients

900 g, 20 to 24 prawnsWild Alaskan spot prawns, shell on, deveined through a cut along the back, patted dry
60 gUnsalted European-style butter, chilled and cubeddivided
30 mlExtra-virgin olive oil
30 gGarlic, finely minced, not puréed
40 gShallot, in fine dice
120 mlDry white wine
30 mlLemon juice
15 gFlat-leaf parsley, chopped
6 gCoarse sea salt
2 gCrushed red pepper flakes
1 loafWarm sourdough, thickly sliced, for the sauce

Shells on

Spot prawn muscle firms above 52 °C and dries above 60 °C, where it sticks to the shell. Cooked in the shell, the meat is shielded from the scorching pan while the shell gives up its colour and aromatic esters into the oil.

Mounting the butter

Cold butter swirled into the hot reduced wine off the flame makes an emulsion: the milk proteins hold the fat in suspension and the sauce clings to the shells. Boiled, it splits into grease.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the sea in the shells and flaky salt. Fat is the mounted butter and olive oil. Acid is reduced wine and lemon. Heat is red pepper and garlic. Umami is the shell, the head and the wine fond.

Equipment

12-inch tri-ply stainless skillet with sloped sides
Kitchen shears
Tongs
Warm shallow bowls

Dockside it is a big cast-iron skillet over a roaring camp stove. Indoors, a wide stainless pan you can toss in. Get it smoking hot and cook in one layer.

Method

Prepare the prawns10 min
Rinse in ice-cold water. Snip along the outer curve of each back shell to the tail, lift out the vein, and leave the shell and tail on. Pat thoroughly dry and salt.
Rinse in ice-cold water. Snip along the outer curve of each back shell to the tail, lift out the vein, and leave the shell and tail on. Pat thoroughly dry and salt.
Sear2 min
Set the skillet over high heat with the olive oil and 15 g of the butter. When the butter foams, add the prawns in one layer and sear 90 seconds without moving them until the undersides turn coral red.
Heat olive oil and 15 g butter in a skillet over high heat. When butter foams, add prawns in one layer; sear undisturbed 90 seconds until coral-red underneath.
Aromatics1 min
Flip the prawns and scatter in the garlic, shallot and red pepper. Toss constantly 60 seconds so the garlic softens without browning.
Flip the prawns and scatter in the garlic, shallot and red pepper. Toss constantly 60 seconds so the garlic softens without browning.
Deglaze1 min
Pour in the wine and let it boil hard 60 to 90 seconds, scraping the fond, until reduced by half.
Pour in the wine and let it boil hard 60 to 90 seconds, scraping the fond, until reduced by half.
Mount the butter1 min
Pull the pan off the heat. Drop in the remaining 45 g cold butter and the lemon juice and swirl the pan in circles until the sauce turns creamy. The prawns should be opaque and springy, 54 to 57 °C.
Remove from heat. Swirl in remaining 45 g cold butter and lemon juice until creamy; do not boil the sauce. Prawns should be opaque and springy, at 54–57 °C.
Serve from the pan
Toss in the parsley and tip prawns and sauce into warm bowls with lemon wedges and thick sourdough.
Toss in the parsley and tip prawns and sauce into warm bowls with lemon wedges and thick sourdough.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: shells vivid coral-crimson with the white spots standing out; flesh pearly white; a glossy sauce flecked green.
- Auditory: a violent sizzle on contact, then rapid bubbling as the wine hits the pan.
- Olfactory: toasted garlic, shellfish butter, wine steam, fresh parsley.
Look for coral-crimson shells with distinct white spots, pearly white flesh and glossy parsley-flecked sauce. Expect sizzling, rapid wine bubbling and aromas of garlic, shellfish butter, wine and parsley.

Troubleshooting

Rubbery prawns stuck to their shells.: More than three minutes of heat. Pull the pan the moment the flesh is opaque; the sauce finishes them.
A broken, oily sauce.: It boiled after the butter went in. Mount off the flame, swirling.
Bitter garlic.: It went in with the cold oil. Add it after the flip, for 60 seconds in the wine steam.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Spot prawns	Royal red shrimp, Argentine red shrimp or head-on tiger prawns	Larger prawns need 30 to 45 seconds more
Dry white wine	Seafood stock with 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar	Keeps the acidity without alcohol
Shallot	Finely minced yellow onion or scallion whites	One-to-one

Scaling

Half

A 10-inch skillet. Still under three minutes of cooking.

Double

Two skillets. Four pounds in one pan steam and turn rubbery.

What to serve it with

Thick slices of sourdough for the sauce
A green salad and lemon wedges
A citrusy Alaskan pale ale, or a Sancerre

Questions

Heads on or off?

Heads on give the richest sauce; the tomalley melts into the butter. If the prawns are live, remove the heads just before cooking so their enzymes do not soften the tails.

Frozen spot prawns?

Yes. Most are frozen in seawater on board. Thaw overnight in the fridge, drain, and dry well.

Why cut the shell along the back?

The garlic butter reaches the meat directly, and peeling at the table takes one pull.