Big, beautiful tiger prawns are one of those dishes that look impressive without needing much fuss. I butterfly the prawns while keeping the head and shell intact, then load them with a compound butter made with fresh parsley, garlic, lemon and Scotch bonnet. Under a hot oven grill, the butter melts directly into the exposed flesh while the shell develops a beautiful char.

Ingredients

For the tiger prawns

3 lbs large tiger prawns, head and shell on

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Lemon wedges, for serving

For the Lemon, Garlic & Scotch Bonnet Compound Butter

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 cloves garlic, finely minced

¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 Scotch bonnet pepper, finely minced

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Butterfly the tiger prawns: Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, carefully cut each prawn lengthwise along the back, cutting through the shell but leaving the head, tail and shell intact. Open each prawn out to expose the flesh and remove the intestinal vein. Pat dry.

Butterfly tiger prawns using kitchen shears or sharp knife. (Photo: Alan Smith)

2. Make the compound butter: Add the softened butter, garlic, parsley, Scotch bonnet, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and black pepper to a bowl. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.

Make compound butter (Photo: Alan Smith)

3. Arrange the butterflied tiger prawns flesh-side up on a large baking tray. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.

4. Generously spread the compound butter directly over the exposed flesh of each prawn. Don’t be shy with it — you want the butter to melt down into the prawns as they cook.

Spread compound butter over the exposed flesh of each prawn. (Photo: Alan Smith)

5. Preheat the oven grill/broiler to high. Place the prawns under the hot grill and cook for approximately 6-8 minutes, depending on size, until the flesh is opaque, butter is bubbling and shells have picked up a little char.

6. Remove from oven and spoon melted lemon-garlic butter from bottom of tray back over the prawns.

Butterflied Tiger Prawns with Lemon, Garlic & Scotch Bonnet Compound Butter (Photo: Alan Smith)

7. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and serve immediately with extra lemon wedges.

Shan’s Tip: Butterflying the tiger prawns isn’t just for presentation. Opening them up gives you more surface area for that compound butter, so all that garlic, lemon, parsley and Scotch bonnet melts directly into the flesh. Whatever you do, don’t throw away the butter left in the pan — spoon it right back over the prawns.

Recipe courtesy of Shanice Gore

Photos: Alan Smith