Wild spot prawns sometimes come with roe attached, bejeweling the bellies of female spot prawns with small, translucent pearls in shades of yellow, orange, and amber. The roe looks like caviar. Roe is the eggs of the prawns.
When raw, it has a briny taste and unctuous texture. When cooked, it has a more subtle flavor and takes on a texture ranging from creamy to chalky. So, what should you do with this roe?
Can you remove spot prawn roe?
Not all spot prawns will be carrying roe — just the females, of course, and only while the prawns are spawning.
If you’re planning to peel the spot prawns before cooking them, you can simply leave the roe on the prawns. It’ll come off along with the shells. The shells, with or without roe attached, can then be used to make spot prawn stock.
If you’d like to cook the prawns with the shells on, you can remove the roe beforehand to give the prawns a clean, finished look. Or, you can cook the prawns with the shells on and roe attached.
How to Remove Spot Prawn Roe
First, you’ll need to defrost the prawns. From there, removing the roe is easy. Use a small spoon to carefully scrape the roe from the prawns while their shells are still on. It should come off in bunches.
Be mindful of the fact that the spot prawn shells are spiny. We recommend starting at the tail end of the prawns and scraping the roe up the body, in the direction that the prawns’ legs are pointing.
Can you eat spot prawn roe?
Yes you can, but to reduce the risk of foodborne illness, it’s best to cook spot prawn roe before consumption. Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have a certain medical condition. We cannot recommend eating spot prawn roe when raw.
When cooking with spot prawns roe, consider integrating it into creamy seafood dishes. James Beard Award-winning chef Maria Hines uses spot prawn roe to add dimension to a poaching liquid made with cream and butter. The roe is essentially just stirred into the cream, giving it an orange blush. In Hines’s recipe, this poaching liquid is then used to cook shelled spot prawns, which are served with cauliflower puree and chermoula.
Spot prawns can also be stirred into cream sauces toward the end of cooking, just to poach through until no longer translucent. They’ll add a briny note to the dish.