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Spring, Seafood, and Asparagus

COMBINING the incomparable flavour of BBQ prawns and the delicate flavour of asparagus is always a winner, and it’s healthy too.

For these recipes use steamed fresh asparagus, or good quality tinned asparagus. Victoree asparagus has to be one of the best and most natural-tasting varieties of tinned asparagus about, and it is available at some health food shops in Queensland.

ORIENTAL PRAWNS AND ASPARAGUS

Ingredients

  • 1 tin asparagus spears or 1 bunch fresh asparagus
  • 500g green prawns
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon mirrin
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • salad leaves

Preparation

• If you are using tinned asparagus spears, drain the tin well. For fresh asparagus, steam until just tender.

• Peel and de-vein the green prawns, leaving the tail intact.

• Combine the vinegar, mirrin, sugar, soy sauce and ginger in a glass bowl. Add the prawns to the bowl and toss gently. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinade in the refrigerator for about an hour.

• Towards the end of the marinading time, heat the BBQ. Remove the prawns from the marinade, retaining the marinade. BBQ the prawns until they are just pink on both sides.

• Arrange a layer of salad leaves on a serving plate. Top the lettuce leaves with the asparagus spears, and arrange the prawns over the asparagus. To finish, drizzle with a little of the marinade.

BBQ PRAWNS WITH ASPARAGUS AND PEPPERCORN SAUCE

The delicate flavour of asparagus and the bite of peppercorns make this a great sauce to have with BBQ prawns. If possible, use pink peppercorns - their colour blends well with the sauce so that the bite of the peppercorns comes as a surprise.

Ingredients

  • 1kg green prawns, peeled and deveined
  • 1 tin asparagus spears, drained
  • Peppercorn Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Bertolli olive oil
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon tomato paste
  • generous squeeze lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon pink peppercorns
  • 1/2 cup cream

Preparation

• To make the sauce, heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan and add the shallots. Cook for a couple of minutes before adding the tomato paste, lemon juice and peppercorns. Stir well over a low heat until the mixture is well combined and slightly warm.

• Add the cream and heat gently, stirring continuously for a couple of minutes. Keep the temperature of the sauce low when adding the cream to avoid the sauce splitting. Keep the sauce warm while BBQ-ing the prawns.

• BBQ the prawns until they are just pink. Place a few asparagus spears on individual serving plates and top with a generous amount of prawns.

• Drizzle the prawns and asparagus with the pink peppercorn sauce and serve.

The seafood in these recipes was supplied by Sam’s Seafood in Hamilton (ph. (07) 3633 4700).