My family first tasted this dish at Doyle’s on the wharf at Watson’s Bay in the 80’s and adored it. My sister Kyla was to become a wonderful cook and came up with her own version below. The sauce is delicious! Make sure to serve with lots of rice or bread as every last drop of sauce is mopped up and savoured. Recipe provided by Kyla Davies.
1 kg green prawns, peeled and cleaned
3 tbsp ghee, or half vegetable oil and half butter
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 – 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp sherry
1 – 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
600ml thickened cream
2 tbsp dry vermouth
Salt and pepper
Handful parsley
Juice ½ a lemon
As this is a quick dish to cook, have the rice or bread ready on the table to serve.
In a large fry pan, add 2 tbsp ghee (this is due to the high temperature we want the pan for searing the prawns quickly and not to burn the butter while adding it’s flavour) once the pan is hot and the ghee sizzling, add the prawns and fry quickly to brown but not cook through – this will take only a minute or so. Remove prawns to a plate to add back later.
Add the last tbsp ghee and fry the onion on a low heat until soft and translucent, add the garlic near the end to soften as well. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, then add the mustard and cream and bring to the boil, turn heat down immediately to avoid splitting the cream. Add the vermouth, salt and pepper – check the combination of flavours, adding more mustard, vermouth or salt etc to taste.
Add the prawns back to the pan and warm up for 30 seconds, adding the lemon juice and parsley during this time. Be careful not to cook any longer as they will continue cooking in the pan while you take it to the table to serve.
Spoon into warm bowls and serve with simple steamed rice or bread to dunk in – a damper-style bread suits this dish nicely.
Serves 4