I was in two minds as to whether to put this recipe up. Mainly because I didn’t really like this sauce much and the sauce is really the main bother with this. I actually preferred my humungous Australian King Prawns plain or with the mayo by itself or even with the bought Thousand Island that it resembled in look, if not entirely by taste.
For me, the harissa was just too strong, bitter and spicey. I dutifully bought a good Mayonnaise as Nigella suggested (not Organic but an expensive Swiss style mayo); gorgeously fresh and sweet and perfectly textured prawns (most measuring between 17-20 cms long prawns on steroids the polar opposite of the small shrimp that Nigella had); authentic Moroccan Harissa which was finally found in a Kirribilli deli; fresh lime and honey. What I failed to do was read her blurb before the recipe which says to work up to the amount of harissa below which was the fatal mistake. If I had listened to her and worked my way up to the quantity, it would have been much nicer. Tread lightly with the Harissa if you have an authentic, hot one.
If you do want to make this I’d suggest making much less sauce. With 500g of the large prawns, I halved the sauce quantity and even then we hardly made a dent into the sauce. And go for Tiger rather than King Prawns if this is for more than 1 person. 500grams of Gigantic King Prawns will only get you between 8-10 prawns.
Prawns with Maryam Zaira Sauce
OK, so this is the idea: sauce Marie Rose goes Moroccan. Instead of the usual tomato ketchup (well, be honest), I dollop in some good shop-bought harissa. It works wonderfully, and the honey makes up for the sugar you lack by giving up the Heinz. Be careful when you buy harissa, though, as not only does it vary enormously in strength but also some jars that bear the name are not really harissa but a paste made red with beetroot and carrot. Check the back of the tub for ingredients. I used a gorgeously mild harissa here, a rose harissa, that I find poetically desirable. But start with a small amount of the harissa you’ve got before working up to the amount I have stipulated below.
I love prawns with their shells still on; a bit of DIY at the table always seems to help the atmosphere. But if you hate mess and can’t bear the sight of seeing people dropping shells all over the place, then simply buy peeled prawns instead.
- 500g cooked prawns with shell on
FOR THE SAUCE
- 200g good-quality shop-bought mayonnaise, preferably organic
- 50g harissa (or less!)
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
1. Mix together all the sauce ingredients, and put into a bowl suitable for dipping.2 Arrange the prawns on a plate for people to pluck, peel and dip into the sauce, making sure you have enough in the way of plates or saucers dotted about the place for detritus.
14 Comments | Add your own
I guess the only remedy was to up the mayo and everything else, but then you end up with more sauce, which means to up the prawns as well, hehe.
I think working everything else around the amount of Harissa is a good way to go, that way you end up with a heap of sauce and Prawns, and then you can invite me over to help you finish them!
hi-
i just wanted to say i just recently stumbled upon your blog and am now obsessed with it! great food and beautiful pictures!!!
I must be the only person that likes the smaller prawns? lol. I think the big ones are just too “prawny”. Hehe.
Will you make this again?
Hi tian-Yeah I considered that but I already knew that I had too much sauce on my hands (not literally)
Hi Cappucino-You’re great at finding ways to come over aren’t you?
Hi Jackie-Why thankyou so much!
That’s lovely of you to say, thankyou!
Hi Esz-There’s just something that excites me about seeing a plate of massive prawns. I think because I’ve had some bad smaller prawns in my life.
I would make it again but only if I built up the taste of the harissa. Definitely not with the full amount o harissa though!
egads, those are some creepy-looking critters! i have to tell you that they would have to be either mutilated beyond recognition or completely doused in sauce for me to consider eating them.
Lorraine it looks so good. Great photos.
Hi grace-really? I like my food to look somewhat like they originally looked like
Hi Kim-Thanks so much, that’s a nice compliment!
There are many things I love about reading food blogs and one of them is getting the honest opinion of my favorite foodies about certain recipes and ingredients. Great post, Lorraine! And those are some huge prawns!
Hi Patricia-That’s what I also really like about food blogs, recipes are also vetted. Thanks so much and yep we grow prawns really big here
For me the first photo of the prawns and sauce was like almost the best photo ever to rival any level of food photography! They look SO good!! A brilliant photo!
I’ve never enjoyed mayo’s from the GOLDNYA brand for some reason..and I’ve had them two or three times in Sydney actually.. Usually around Christmas when eating our Christmas fare from the fish markets.
Thank you for sharing your experience. My girl and I shared some garlic prawns last night actually at home
To go off the subject a little… Last night when trying to get to this site (your site) I ended up on Nigella’s site! I found a section that lists corrections to her cookbooks and there are numerous. You might already know about this of course, but I thought I’d let you know just in case.
http://www.nigella.com/news/detail.asp?article=1890&area=2
Hi Maria-Why thankyou so much! I actually took those photos myself so I am feeling doubly chuffed
I have to admit, I didn’t like the Goldyna mayo much either. At first I wasn’t sure if it was the harissa or the mayo as the harissa was so strong but it was a bit bitter to me. I thought it should be better as it was expensive and came in a nice jar (illogical logic I know).
Mmmm garlic prawns are delicious! Did you enjoy them?
Thanks, I came across that a few days ago (perhaps it’s new, I’ve never come across that page before?). Interesting and some are absolutely huge errors!
Brilliant; congratulationS!!! The name attracted me in the first place,and then to discovered the contents equally as interesting!!!!! Keep up the good work
Regards
Margo
Hi margo-The name she gave it is great, it had me intrigued. Thanks so much for your lovely comment!
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