why am i so frightened of prawns? is it victoria wood's fault?

[AitchTwoOh]

that line about them hanging around sewage outlets treading water with their mouths open? [barf]

DD eats them at my mum's house all the time, i love them in a restaurant but i am bizarrely terrified of cooking them myself for fear of killing us all...i've had a pack of M&S fancy pants honduran king prawns in the freezer for months now but i can never think of anythign to do with them. which is stupid, cos right off the top of my head i can think of squizzing some lime juice over them and frying them up with chilli. but i won't. because i haven't, iykwim. so they'll sit there forever.

tell me about prawns, everyone. particularly frozen ones. how do you get the poo out of them for starters? how do you defrost them without getting food poisoning? are they even Good For You? etcetera etcetera etcetera.

[TeeCee]

PMSl, I love you Aitch.

I don't get out any poo froma prawn! I just chuck em in a seaf odd pasta or grill em on a bbq or put them in a sarnie with some lettuce.

YUM.

You just defrost them in a fridge overnight. Run em under a tap in a seive and eat em!

[Mercy]

I don't think the black bits are poo but eggs?? - at least with the unshelled prawns (I culd be totally wrong though)

There is a technique to shelling them though.

The main thing is to make sure they are thoroughly defrosted and rinsed.

But I'm no expert - in fact I'm a bit wary of prawns too!

[Tatties]

Aitch I'm the same as you - I'm way too nervy about getting ill to risk it - irrational I know. It gives me the shakes if dp wants to eat them when we're out too Which is a shame because I do actually like prawns..

So I am no help to you whatsoever But FWIW, I would rather defrost and cook them myself under controlled conditions, than eat them out, not knowing if they've been stored properly.

[AitchTwoOh]

i did once have a very bad experience with a prawn's gritty poo in a chinese restaurant. i think that's one of the reasons i'm so afraid. what do you do about the black line up their backs, then? just ignore them?

[KnayedFrot]

Marinade them in lemon juice, olive oil & garlic for ages, then grill them til they start to turn black, they will be yummy and the poo will have turned to charcoal.

[AitchTwoOh]

oh my god mercy, the eggs..!

this is like therapy for me, i once ate some sort of prawn egg sac as well, i am actually heaving at the memory!

[moondog]

lol
That line was great wasn't it?

Listen,would you eat a sausage?
Yes?
They are a whole lot more weird than prawns.

Defrost the buggers and sling 'em into a Thai style curry with green beans,babt sweetcorn and coconut.

I have ahuge block currently defrosting for very same reason.

[moondog]

Do you eat hen's eggs?
CD (where the hell is she??)once described egg mayonnaise as hens' periods in hens' period sauce.

Fish eggs???
Bring 'em on.
Dh returning from Tajikistan these days loaded with caviar.
Fanbloodytastic.

[AitchTwoOh]

love cod roe, actually. because at least i know what that is (delicious, frankly, fried with bacon and onions). but that egg sac, oh my lord i put this delicious-looking prawn in my mouth and there was a grey-blue taste-explosion (mild synaesthete) and oh lord...

[moondog]

People pay good money for such things.

[AitchTwoOh]

bleh.

so these prawns, the ones lurking in my freezer. i just put the bag in the fridge and then by tomorrow they'll be safe to eat? really?

[moondog]

Really
Don't let them defrost and drip everywhere though.

[AitchTwoOh]

in a bag in a bowl, then?

WHY am i so frightened of prawns?! this is making me pmsl. i am A Good Cook, normally.

[moondog]

Yes
Feel the feAR AND do it anywAY.

[AitchTwoOh]

bet i overcook them.

[kittylette]

yuck

they look like fetuses

[moondog]

You secretly want to so you can bin 'em...

[Ellbell]

I understand Aitch. I have a thing about mussels, having once been very very sick (emetophobe) after eating a mussel. I have convinced myself that mussels are only safe to eat in France (the bad one was in the UK). And then only if someone else cooks them. Dh cooked them once when we were on holiday in France, but I couldn't bring myself to eat them.

I'm fine with prawns, though.

Good luck!

[AitchTwoOh]

ellbell, that's it. i think that i'll do somethign terrible and ruin them/poison us all To Death... i do actually like prawns, moonie, so i'd love to cook them well. i think i might keep it simple first of all and stir fry em with white wine and chilli and coriander. for how long? a couple of mins?

[moondog]

Cook until they turn pink.
Then take 'em off heat.

You must cook with shells on however otherwise no flavour.

I had some vile wet flabby cooked prawns in some sort of unspeakable 'party ring' arangement (complete with one of those beige floppy sugary dips the Brits love)at a church buffet on Sunday.
Still shuddering.

There is no comparison between that and some fantastic shell on prawns zinged up with chilli,garlic,coriANDER and lime.

[Ellbell]

Just re-read my post. Obviously my dh is 'someone else', but not 'else' enough for my liking. It has to be someone French. In a restaurant. Preferably as close as possible to the sea. Then I can eat them!

If you have frozen prawns in a bag they are probably already cooked, aren't they? So in theory you don't need to cook them at all - just warm them through.

Cook spaghetti. While it's cooking gently fry some garlic and chilli in a little olive oil. Add the prawns and heat gently. Drain pasta and throw into pan. Add more olive oil if necessary so you have enough to coat the pasta. Add some roughly chopped coriander and a sqeeze of lime (or lemon). If feeling terribly poncey you could add some lime zest too at the same time as the coriander. Yum!

[moondog]

Oh if they're already cooked,I'd throw em straight out anyway.
No flavour.

[AitchTwoOh]

i understood what you meant ellbell. unless your dh is french, which might have complicated matters somewhat.

unfortunately the ones in the bag aren't shell on. but they are big buggers, not those teeny weeny things. where do you buy frozen shell on ones? and What Do You Do About The Poo?

[Ellbell]

If I ever divorce my dh and marry a Frenchman (tempting !) I shall have a real dilemma as to where and under what circumstances I can eat mussels. [v. confused emoticon]

Do you mean the black line thing? Once they are defrosted you should be able to just lift it off/scrape it away with a knife shouldn't you?

[AitchTwoOh]

bleaugh at scraping prawn poo with knife. you're very brave for an emetophobe...