John Whaite's devilish garlic prawns
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
John Whaite's devilish garlic prawns
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
John Whaite
John Whaite is a British food writer, television presenter and cookery school owner. He won series three of The Great British Bake Off and has released several cookbooks.
John Whaite
John Whaite is a British food writer, television presenter and cookery school owner. He won series three of The Great British Bake Off and has released several cookbooks.
Ingredients
- 6 fat red chillies
- 8 large garlic cloves, peeled
- 100ml olive oil
- 2 x 600g bags frozen raw shell-on jumbo king prawns, defrosted
- 120ml vodka
- handful of dill
Step by step
Prepare to the end of step 2 several hours ahead
-
Finely slice the chillies – I don’t bother to deseed them – and the garlic and keep them separate.
-
Heat 50ml of oil in each of 2 frying pans over a medium-high heat and, once hot, add half of the chillies to each pan and stir-fry for about 30 seconds to infuse the oil (if infusing ahead, you can use 1 pan initially, then divide the oil between 2 pans for cooking the prawns).
-
Add half the garlic and half the prawns to each pan and fry for about 1 minute. Flip the prawns over, then pour half of the vodka into each pan, adding a pinch of salt and pepper, too. Fry for another 1-2 minutes until the prawns turn pink.
-
Chop the dill and scatter it over the prawns. Tip onto a plate and serve, using the focaccia (overleaf) to mop up the sauce. Have finger bowls and napkins on hand for when people are peeling the prawns.
