Young Chef of the Sea

Kombu butter adds salty savouriness to grilled butterflied prawns, served with fresh herbs for a lift and powdered yuzu kosho, the Japanese citrus condiment, which adds a spicy, zesty kick. If you don’t want to make your own yuzu kosho, it’s available in most Asian grocers; if you are making it, it’s so good that’s it’s a fine idea to make a double or triple batch.

Serves 4

8 Skull Island Tiger Prawns, butterflied and deveined (heads and shells left on)
Canola oil, for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
Mint, coriander, parsley and dill, to serve

Yuzu kosho
30g finely grated yuzu zest (or use a mix of lime and lemon zest)
30g finely minced long green or red chilli (seeds removed)
5g sea salt

Kombu Butter
50g kombu
200ml soy sauce
200ml mirin
100ml sweet soy sauce
100ml rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
Splash of sake
500g unsalted butter, softened

For the yuzu kosho, combine yuzu zest and chilli in a small food processor, blend to combine, then add the salt. You can now either transfer the yuzu kosho to a sterilised glass jar and leave it in the fridge for a week to ferment, or use it straight away. When it’s ready, spread a thin layer on a tray lined with baking paper and place it in the oven at the lowest possible setting (maximum 70°C; or use a dehydrator if you have one) for 4 hours to dry out. Now crush it into a powder with a food processor or mortar and pestle.

For the kombu butter, combine all ingredients, except the butter, in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring well. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently until kombu is soft. Cool.

Strain, reserving liquid, then blitz the kombu in a blender with a ¼ cup (60ml) liquid to form a paste (this is called momoya). Chill.

Add momoya, softened butter and a pinch of sea salt to a food processor and blend until combined. Roll into a cylinder in plastic wrap and chill until needed (extra butter will keep refrigerated for a month).

When you’re ready to serve, heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add a drizzle of oil, season prawns with salt and pepper, then, working in batches if necessary, grill the prawns, shell-down, until they start to change colour.

Add the garlic, then reduce the heat to low. Add in kombu butter (1 tbsp per prawn should do it), let it bubble and melt, spoon it over the flesh, then remove from heat and let it sit for 1-2 minutes to soak up the butter.

Squeeze in the lemon juice, transfer to plates, top with yuzu kosho dust and finish with the fresh herbs.

Skull Island Tiger Prawns are as good raw as they are cooked. This recipe plays on both styles, with a quick flash of heat bringing out their fragrance, while a prawn-infused béarnaise and a ’nduja crumb add richness and spice in equal measure.

Serves 2-4

4 Skull Island Tiger Prawns
300g salted butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
Lemon juice, to taste
50 g ’nduja

Peel the prawns, keeping the tails intact, reserving the shells and the heads separately. Use a teaspoon to scrape the meat and coral out of the prawn heads and into a small bowl. Butterfly the prawns.

Add the butter to a large saucepan over medium-high heat, swirling to melt. Watch it carefully, swirling it occasionally, until it turns amber and smells nutty. Remove from heat immediately.

Spoon 2½ tablespoons of brown butter into another saucepan, place over medium heat, then add the reserved head meat and stir briefly until it turns red. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and reserve.

Now add the reserved prawn shells, toasting them until they turn bright orange. Add remaining brown butter, bring to 60 degrees, then strain through a fine sieve and set aside.

Place the egg yolk into a Thermomix with the cooked prawn head meat. Cook on 60°C until smooth and light, then slowly pour in all but 2 tablespoons brown butter until nicely emulsified. Season to taste with lemon juice and salt. Turn off and keep warm until ready to serve.

When you’re ready to serve, place the ’nduja in a small frying pan and place over low heat, slowly rendering out the fat and letting the ’nduja become crisp and fragrant.

To serve, brush the prawns with the reserved brown butter and either blowtorch the prawns on their backs only, or place them under a hot oven grill to just colour them.

Serve the prawns on plates with the bearnaise, ’nduja crumbs and a drizzle of ’nduja oil.

A luxe prawn tartare of different textures, with richness from brandy-infused sauce Americaine and a dusting of prawn dust, and savoury crunch from nori crisps that serve as crackers.

6 Skull Island Tiger Prawns, peeled and deveined, heads and shells reserved
40g table salt
120g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
2 shallots, finely diced
Fennel fronds, to serve

Nori crisps
19g plain flour
8g rice flour
10g cornflour
14g potato starch
1g baking soda
75ml chilled soda water
100ml canola oil
2 nori sheets, each cut into 9 pieces

Sauce Americaine
½ onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
60g tomato paste
1 tbsp brandy
30ml white wine
240ml fish stock
60ml thickened cream
0.5g agar agar (from gourmet grocers or online)

To make a prawn dust, preheat the oven to 190°C, clean the prawn heads, place on an oven tray and roast for 15 minutes until fragrant. Reduce the heat to 170°C and roast for a further 15 minutes or until dried out. Remove from oven, allow to cool, then blitz to a powder in a food processor.

For the nori crackers, combine the flour, rice flour, cornflour and potato starch with the baking soda in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the soda water to make a batter. Heat the oil in a small saucepan, and working with one nori square at a time, dip it into the batter, then fry until crisp. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt. Set aside.

To cure the prawns, combine the salt, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl. Finely dice the prawn meat, then toss it in the cure to coat. Refrigerate for 40 minutes to cure. Once cured, rinse and dry on paper towels.

Meanwhile, for the sauce Americaine, sauté the onion and garlic in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the prawns shells, stirring until they change colour, then stir in the tomato paste, cooking until nicely caramelised.

Add the brandy and white wine, scraping the pan to pick up all the flavours, then add half the fish stock. Let it reduce for 3-4 minutes, then add the cream and season to taste. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, then adjust the consistency with extra fish stock if you think it needs it.

Strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, bring to the boil, then whisk in the agar agar and bring to the boil again. Pour into a syphon if you have one, and charge it twice. Alternatively, you can serve the sauce as is.

Stir the shallots through the cured prawn meat, season to taste and serve with the sauce Americaine, topped with fennel fronds and prawn dust, with nori crisps for scooping.

A recipe that takes advantage of the sweet, juicy flavour of Skull Island Tiger Prawns to deliver a flaky mash-up of shallot pancakes and prawn toast, with just enough freshness from a summery Chinese salad to keep things in check.

Serves 4-6

3 garlic cloves
80ml Chinese black vinegar
2 sheets of puff pastry
3 spring onions, sliced
½ bunch coriander, sliced
8 Skull Island Tiger Prawns, peeled and deveined, heads and shells reserved
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying, plus extra for brushing
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Chinese cucumber and nectarine salsa
3 nectarines, finely diced
¾ cucumber, seeds removed, finely diced
½ shallot, very finely diced
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 tbsp sesame oil
10g fine salt
10g caster sugar

Prawn Oil
350ml vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, sliced
3 spring onions, sliced
1 tbsp gochujang
100ml Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chilli powder)
20g fine salt

Bruise the garlic, place it in the vinegar and set aside for 1-2 hours to infuse.

For the prawn oil, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the reserved prawn heads and shells, the garlic and the spring onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the prawn shells are nicely caramelised, about 5 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high, stir in the gochujang and Shaoxing, and cook until the alcohol has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add the gochugaru and stir for 5 minutes until fragrant. Season with the salt, adjusting to taste, strain through a fine sieve, then leave to cool.

Cut the puff pastry sheets in half, and brush oil onto each sheet.

In a bowl, toss the spring onion and coriander together to combine, then spread about ½ handful evenly over each pastry sheet.

Place 2 peeled prawns on the short edge of a sheet of pastry and roll it up, making sure to seal each end. Now roll the tube into a snail shape. Repeat with remaining pastry and prawns.

Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or a large, deep saucepan to 180°C. Add the pastries and deep-fry for about 8 minutes or until golden. Drain well, then cut each pastry into 4, brush one end of each with oil into sesame seeds.

Remove the garlic from the vinegar and pour it into a bowl with all the salsa ingredients. Toss to coat, then serve with the pancakes.