For Christmas I bought “frozen at sea” Gulf prawns. Prawns frozen on the trawlers in ship’s blast freezers are far fresher than anything that’s been farmed and shipped fresh. So I had 3 kg of jumbo prawns needing to be defrosted on Christmas eve.
This is a combination of the method I found on the Sydney Fish Market web site and a recorded conversation on one of the ABC radio stations.
It worked – the prawns tasted fantastic and much better after 24 hours soaking than they did when first defrosted. I had to taste them every few hours to make sure that they weren’t over-soaked or going soggy. From now on I am going to store all prawns that I buy in brine, at least for a few hours – whether fresh, frozen or defrosted.
Method
- Optimally begin defrosting the prawns 24 hours prior to needing them.
- Mix 1/2 cup of salt with water and stir to dissolve, add water and ice check saltiness – it should taste a bit saltier than the ocean and add prawns so they are covered by liquid. Keep them in water until starting to soften.
- Put the prawns in a dish or saucepan and just cover with the brine – again check saltiness and adjust if necessary, it may have diluted from the ice. Cover with ice and cover and refrigerate until required.
- Before serving drain in a colander.