Spot prawns are some of the best shellfish on the planet. They’re a buttery, delicate, and delectable protein that turns any meal into a treat. But this week’s newsletter is dedicated to the part of the spot prawn that doesn’t always make into your meals: the shells.
Some recipes call for you to leave the shells on the prawns as they cook. That’s because there’s lots of pent up flavor-potential in them that can be coaxed out with a little heat. Leaving them on does mean that you’ll have to peel them later, which can be part of the culinary experience — not unlike the glorious mess of a seafood boil. A testament to pleasure experienced. An ode to interactivity.
But for recipes that call for peeled prawns, I have another way to extract every last drop of flavor out of this special harvest: reserve the shells, then turn them into spot prawn stock. Even if you’re not using the stock now, it’s a great thing to have stashed in the freezer for later. Beyond the flavor-boosting potential of spot prawn shells, I so appreciate how making something as basic as a stock allows you to utilize more of the harvest that you receive in every WAC box, giving you more to love about wild-caught seafood from Alaska.
When it comes to spot prawns, unless there’s a good reason to leave the shells on, I personally prefer to go the use-the-shells-for-stock route, for a few reasons:
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Spot prawns are easier to peel when raw. Spot prawn shells tend to cling to their delicate meat, regardless of when you peel them. But I have found that you’ll get a cleaner peel from raw prawns, so this just makes the inevitable prep process a bit easier. And anyway, any bits of meat left on the raw shells will help to flavor prawn stock.
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Spot prawn stock infuses meals with prawny goodness. Cooking with a flavorful stock is an easy way to infuse flavor throughout a dish, whether you’re adding it to a pot of chowder, splashing it into a skillet to build a quick pan sauce for pasta, or using it as a component for cooking seafood en papillote.
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Peeled prawns are easier to eat. Sometimes, I don’t mind when eating seafood is a messy, hands-on affair. But generally, with spot prawns, I appreciate being able to enjoy a tantalizing meal dish without having to break for a peeling session.
You don’t have to make spot prawn stock the moment you peel the shells. You can freeze the shells in a bag (I often return them to the resealable pack they came in), stashing them for another day. From there, you can either use the stock immediately or freeze it for future use.
Spot prawns are currently an exclusive Member Special available for a very, very limited time, so make sure you add a couple of packs to your next box before the special ends. We haven’t offered these since the spring, so I highly encourage you to indulge while it’s here.
I also invite you to join the WAC recipe team at next week’s live event to see how to put spot prawn stock into action. The team will be using prawn stock to add depth of flavor to Spot Prawns and Cheesy Grits.
Live Wild,
Monica
Pictured above: A luscious bowl of Spot Prawns and Grits, enhanced with the addition of prawn stock.
