As we head into summer, meals like these prawn cocktail sliders, become less about cooking and more about assembly. Prawn cocktails have spent most of its life traversing from the height of fashion to the laughably passé. However I love a classic prawn cocktail for its simple assembly. They require minimal cooking making it a gorgeous dish for sunny lunches. As retro as they are, prawn cocktails have had many reinventions over the years; the addition of dill pickles, diced avocado (this one I agree with) or even diced mango.
My Canadian lived in Australia for a few years and has a firm love of beautiful barbecued prawns. The trick is to buy the biggest freshest prawns you can find and not over cook them. Most seafood stores and even supermarkets sell really great quality whole prawns. For convenience sake, I purchase prawns that are peeled but with their tails still on. Like with meat on the bone, I believe the tails help keep them juicy and flavourful. A cheeky pinch and squeeze gets rid of them once cooked and isn’t stressful at all.
A beautiful prawn cocktail relies on the sauce – Marie Rose sauce is the traditional option. Sometimes called seafood sauce, it is a combo of whole egg mayonnaise, tomato sauce and other beautiful additions. We have also had chilli and lime dressings, which are lovely but there is something special about the classic. Like a good hollandaise uses all the egg, I highly recommend a whole egg mayonnaise. It is smoother in flavour and provides a rounded base. However, for those who are allergic to eggs – Wise Boys mayo is the best on the market. A vegan, egg free mayonnaise, it is lovely in flavour and New Zealand made.
Ingredients
- 8 slider buns
- 1 cup whole egg mayonnaise, or an egg free alternative
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
- Splash of tabasco
- 16 prawns, peeled by with tails intact
- Iceberg lettuce, washed and roughly chopped
- 2 avocado, pitted and sliced - optional
Instructions
Slice the slider buns in half and lightly toast. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice, worcestershire and season using the tabasco sauce. You want a rose pink colour and with a depth of flavour. Set aside. Pan fry or bbq the prawns until they've just turned pink. And now to assemble...
Spread a little sauce on the bottom bun, top with the lettuce, prawns, avocado and another dollop of the sauce.
Serve with a crisp rose!
