Home Cooking: 'Alien' Prawn Head Crispies and Cooking Fresh Beetroot (9 Feb 2010)

Eating Prawns: Head to Tail

Every now and then I set myself a cooking challenge and tonight was to learn how to cook fresh beetroot. A quick google search reveals it's very simple, wash, keep skin on, spray with olive oil, wrap in foil and oven bake for just over an hour at about 200-220 degrees depending on size — easy and it worked :-). Once cooked I cut it into small pieces and combined with carrot, radish, cucumber, coriander and mint for a salad base and added garlic prawns on top.

While waiting for the beetroot to cook I made a tasty snack using the prawn heads. I cut away the legs from the hard shell of the head, squash them down and fry them with some chilli oil and butter until golden brown and seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. I first learnt you could eat them like this when I visited a Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant. The longer you cook them the more crispy they become. The legs actually remind of an Alien facehugger.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Learning something different to cook

CONS: Watch out with staining from beetroot

MUST TRY: Using up the rest of the coriander somehow

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Masterchef ingredients: Beetroot, coriander, radish, carrot, cucumber and green prawns — your time starts now!

Prawn heads — don't waste them.

Cut away the legs from the head and flatten

Fry in butter and oil and season with salt, pepper and paprika

Cook until golden brown and drain on paper towel — enjoy your crunchy Alien prawn head crispies.

Beetroot cooked for 1 hour and 15 minutes in foil at 200-220 degrees

Garlic prawns and beetroot salad with homemade tzatziki, Chef Leong :-)

If you don't want pips in your lemon wedges just cut pieces off the side and not through the middle