Take the pain and stress out of peeling and deveining your prawns by following our step-by-step guide and your prawns will be ready in a flash for your next salad or to throw on your BBQ.
Australian Prawn Varieties
There are 4 main species of prawns, all with different flavour profiles.
OCEAN/KING PRAWNS BANANA PRAWNS ENDEAVOUR PRAWNS PEEL & CLEAN TIGER PRAWNS
OCEAN/KING PRAWNS
Ocean or king prawns don’t refer to size, but species (kings can be small, medium or large). Kings have a lovely almost iridescent blue/purple colouration on the tail when raw and cooked, have rosy pink/orange bands. They have a rich flavour and moist flesh.
BANANA PRAWNS
There are two varieties: regular banana prawns have red legs, and white banana prawns have cream and yellow legs. They are also available as wild-caught and farmed species.
Banana Prawns’ sweet, mild flavour makes them ideal for light and delicately flavoured dishes. They present well as they retain their shape when cooked, and are generally more affordable than kings or tigers.
ENDEAVOUR PRAWNS
Endeavour Prawns are the ugly duckling of the Australian prawn varieties. There are two types of Endeavour Prawn – the red and the blue. Both are excellent eating.
The distinctive sweet flavour of the Endeavour sets it apart. Endeavour’s natural sweetness isn’t as easily overpowered by bolder spices.
The Endeavour was voted Australia’s best tasting by a national panel of professional prawn fishers — in a prawn taste-off in Adelaide in 2007.
TIGER PRAWNS
You can’t miss the tiger’s stripes and it’s a great prawn for
display. There are two species of tiger prawns the wild-caught (these are the
brown and grooved tiger prawns) and farmed (these are the black tiger prawns ).
They have distinctive grey, blue or black stripes that turn red when cooked
with a medium flavour.
Your step-by-step guide for peeling & deveining prawns
step 1:
Firmly grab the prawn head and pull to dislodge.
STEP 2:
Remove the legs.
STEP 3:
Peel the prawn shells.
STEP 4:
If you would like to remove the tail, just squeeze it.
STEP 5:
Then gently pull it away from the body.
STEP 6:
Use a small sharp knife to make a slit along the middle of the back to expose the dark vein.
STEP 7:
With your small knife pull out the dark vein.
STEP 8:
Mission accomplished – peeled & deveined prawns!
STEP 9:
Rinse in a colander under cold running water in the sink.
STEP 10:
Drain your prawns and squeeze out in excess water before using.
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