Mozambican Peri Peri Prawns Recipes

PRAWNS PERI PERI MOZAMBIQUE

Steps:

• Prepare Peri Peri sauce first, by sauteeing onion and garlic in Peri Peri oil until soft, then add diced tomatoes, stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes on low heat, covered. After 20 minutes adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and keep warm. Reheat rice over a colander of boiling water, adding frozen sweet green peas 5 minutes before service.
• Bring olive oil to a hot smoke temperature and in batches fry the prawns until crisp, but not over done, about 4 minutes. Remove batches to paper towel and keep hot.
• Serve 6 prawns over savory rice per person and pass bowl of Peri Peri sauce to spoon over prawns. Prawns traditionally eaten shell on with fingers, and crispy heads sucked for flavor.

PRAWNS PERI-PERI

Steps:

• PERI-PERI SAUCE
• Mix the ingredients together in a bottle and shake well. You can make the sauce ahead and store it in the fridge; the flavour improves with age, reaching its peak at two weeks.
• Slit prawns down their backs and devein. Leave heads on, or remove them if you prefer. Depending on the size of your frying pan, cook them in one or two batches.
• Heat the butter gently and add the garlic and lemon juice. Don't let the garlic burn. Add prawns and peri-peri sauce. (Shake first to make sure you get some of the chilli and garlic as well.)
• Sizzle for 4-5 minutes, turning frequently, until cooked. Season with salt and pepper and tip into a warm serving bowl. Garnish, if you wish, with chopped fresh parsley. Serve with rice or bread and butter.

MOZAMBICAN PERI-PERI PRAWNS

Steps:

• Wash the prawns/shrimps and pat dry. Cut open the backs and remove the dark vein. Kitchen scissors work best. Do not remove the shells. Then cut down gently and slightly butterfly the prawns.
• The oil: start the day before, which is best. (Even the week before!)
• You may need to remove seeds from the dried peppers, and then chop them up. Regulate the heat by using more or less!
• Heat the oil gently, do not boil. Use groundnut or sunflower oil, not olive.
• Add all the other ingredients except the prawns. Don't boil. Take off heat, cool, and save in a clean bottle.
• Steep as long as you have time. The oil should colour to a pleasant reddish colour.
• To cook, either put the prepared prawns in a large bowl, add the oil, stir well, and let marinade for 30 minutes up to 3 hours, in the fridge.
• Bake or grill in a hot oven -- 350 deg F/180 deg C, or use your oven grill. Do NOT overcook: they turn pink when done.
• Scoop up with a slotted spoon so the oil drips off, and you can also briefly drain them on scrunched-up kitchen paper.
• Serve in a heap on a hot platter -- with plenty of wet cloths for hands and dipping bowls for fingers! Usually served with rice and some kind of fresh bread. This is not a dish for dainty eating. Use your hands.
• Immensely popular in Maputo, where most of us will find out way to the famous old Costa do Sol restaurant on the sea, a few kilometres up north from Maputo, and order peri-peri prawns -- !