Spot Prawns

Know this

British Columbia opens the trap fishery May 1 and it is generally done coastwide by the end of June. Six weeks, and the whole game is speed. Buy them live out of a cold tank if you can find them. Otherwise buy them frozen-at-sea and do not apologize for it, because a prawn frozen on the boat beats a fresh one that has been riding around in a truck all day. Look for firm shells and tight tails. Black at the joint behind the head is melanosis, which is harmless and does not mean spoiled, but it does tell you the prawn is not as fresh as the guy is telling you it is. The chef secret: the guts in the head go to work on the tail meat almost immediately, which is why a spot prawn left head-on overnight turns to paste. Twist the heads off the moment you get them home. Then keep the heads. Toast them in butter and you have the best shellfish stock you will make all year. On a spot prawn, the heads are worth more than the tails. Swipe for the head-to-tail breakdown.

Cook

Barely. Sixty to ninety seconds. Split them and grill in the shell over hard heat, or drop them into salted water just off the boil and pull them the second they turn. Better still, if they were alive an hour ago, eat them raw with olive oil, lemon and flaky salt. Overcooked spot prawn is a rubber band.

Season

Spring. May into late June in British Columbia.

Best pairings

Lemon · Garlic · Brown butter · Chili flake · Fennel · Saffron

Also worth trying: olive oil, parsley, white wine, ginger, scallion, sesame, tarragon, flaky sea salt, tomato.

Recommended wine