← Nouns Cooking · Mexican

Ingredients

• 600 g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
• 6 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 guajillo chilli or chile de árbol, snipped into thin rings (optional)
• ¼ tsp Cumin
• 2 tbsp lime juice, plus wedges to serve
• 3 tbsp parsley or coriander, chopped
• ¾ tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Black pepper

Method

1. Pat the prawns very dry and season with half the salt and the pepper.
2. Put the butter and oil in a wide frying pan over medium-low heat. Once the butter foams, add the garlic (and chilli, if using) and cook gently for 3–4 min, stirring, until the garlic is pale gold and sweet. Don’t let it brown.
3. Turn the heat up to medium-high, stir in the cumin and add the prawns in a single layer. Cook for 2 min, flip, and cook for 1–2 min more, until just pink and opaque.
4. Take the pan off the heat, add the lime juice, herbs and the rest of the salt and swirl so the garlicky butter coats everything.
5. Serve at once with lime wedges, white rice and something to soak up the sauce.

Tips

• Slow-cooking the garlic before the prawns go in is the whole trick: it turns mellow and nutty instead of harsh.
• Shell-on prawns are even tastier; add 1 minute to the cooking time.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Maricruz Avalos My Latina Table