My best peri peri prawns recipe Drizzle and Dip

These are my best Peri-peri prawns. A classic Mozambican Portuguese dish which has assimilated into South African cuisine over the years. You could say it’s one of our traditional dishes too. I made this recipe with my own mild version of peri peri sauce, and these were the best I have ever eaten.

Making your own peri peri sauce allows you to control the levels of heat. In my case, this means I can make it really mild. African bird’s eye chillies are used to make traditional peri peri sauce and they are extremely fiery. I took the seeds out to temper the heat, but leave them in if you like things spicy.

I have included four milder chillies in the recipe to add to the sauce as an option. If you can’t find African bird-eye chillies use Thai red chillies.

There are so many very good commercially available peri peri sauce options to choose from if you don’t want to make your own. Find your favourite and at what heat level you prefer and add it to these peri peri prawns. I love Nando’s, Ruys, Fabrica do Prego and the sauce from my local favourite Portuguese restaurant Diaz Tavern.

Peri peri prawns are wonderful cooked over a fire but I love them cooked on a pan or a wok with this recipe. The sauce is so delicious you will want to save each drop.

This is the third recipe in my Heritage Month series using Kerrygold butter. The butter is made from the milk of grass-fed free-roaming dairy cows. It is creamy, delicious, and perfect for this peri-peri prawn recipe. Kerrygold products do not contain any artificial additives and only use natural ingredients “Because Taste is Everything”.

Serve these prawns with good bread and butter to mop up all the delicious pan sauce.

How to make my best peri-peri prawns?

First, make your peri peri sauce from scratch if you are doing this (see my recipe below). You can make it a day or more in advance. Alternatively, purchase your favourite bottle of peri peri sauce.

A few hours before you want to cook your prawns, place your thawed prawns in a dish with the marinade ingredients. I recommend marinating them for 2 hours only. The acid in the marinade could break the flesh down if you leave it too long or overnight.

Heat your pan just before serving. Peri peri prawns cook very quickly and you will serve these immediately.

Toss the prawns along with all the marinade ingredients and pan-fry for a few minutes until they are just starting to turn pink. Be careful not to overcook them. If in doubt stop cooking them just before they are done. The residual heat in the pan plus the flambé action will ensure the prawns are cooked through.

Flambé the prawns with brandy. This for me is a crucial step and adds amazing flavour.

Recipe – serves 2 people (Find the sauce recipe below)

Cook Time:5

Ingredients

500 gm queen or large prawns cleaned and deveined but heads kept on
¼ cup peri peri sauce see my recipe below or use your favourite store-bought option
2 Tbs olive oil
50 gm / 3.5 Tbsp Kerrygold butter
3 fresh bay leaves
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 -2 small deseeded chillies omit if you are using a hot sauce
Juice from 1 lemon
½ cup / 125ml) dry white wine
2 Tbsp chopped parsley and a little extra for garnish
¼ cup brandy to flambe

Instructions

Place your cleaned prawns in a flat dish. Place all the ingredients except the brandy into a small pot and heat until the butter has melted. Pour this over the prawns.
Marinate for 2 hours.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan or wok. You could do this on a large flat pan (skottel) on the fire. Add the prawns with all the marinade to the pan and cook until the prawns just start turning pink. Be careful not to overcook prawns as they will carry over cooking. If in doubt cook them slightly under.
Heat the brandy in a small pot and pour it over the hot prawns. Light this to flambé the prawns.

Servings: 2 people

Author: Sam Linsell

A few other South African Heritage recipes:

Classic South African unbaked milk tarts

The best buttermilk bran rusks

Earl Grey tea milk tart -Baked milk tart

Orange malva pudding

Pear & ginger malva pudding

Malva pudding with cranberries & ginger

My grandmother Betty’s crunchy recipe

Easy peppermint crisp pudding

Traditional South African bobotie with fragrant yellow rice

A few other recipes using Kerrygold butter & cheese

The best cheese & onion quiche

My best lemon meringue pie

My perfect cheese scones

Braaied snoek with orange & apricot butter

Prep Time:10

Cook Time:45

Ingredients

Peri peri sauce

To cook the sauce:

2 x or 400g - Red Bell Peppers, de-seeded and roughly Chopped
6 - Birds Eye Chillies roughly Chopped (Seeds excluded or included depending on how hot)
4 - Long Red Chillies roughly Chopped (Seeds Included) – or omit to keep the sauce mild
1 – red onion peeled and Roughly Chopped
5 Cloves - Garlic Peeled and Roughly Chopped
Juice of a Lemon
1/4 Cup 60ml - red Wine Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp 4g - smoked Paprika
1 1/2 tsp 3g - dried Oregano
2 tsp - sea Salt
1 tsp - ground Black Pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
2 - Bay Leaves

For when the sauce is cooked:

1/2 Cup 125 - Red Wine Vinegar
Juice of half a Lemon
3/4 Cup 120ml - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Instructions

To cook the sauce:

2 x or (400g) - Red Bell Peppers, de-seeded and roughly Chopped
6 - Birds Eye Chillies, roughly Chopped (Seeds excluded or included depending on how hot)
4 - Long Red Chillies, roughly Chopped (Seeds Included) – or omit to keep the sauce mild
1 – red onion, peeled and Roughly Chopped
5 Cloves - Garlic, Peeled and Roughly Chopped
Juice of a Lemon
1/4 Cup (60ml) - red Wine Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp (4g) - smoked Paprika
1 1/2 tsp (3g) - dried Oregano
2 tsp - sea Salt
1 tsp - ground Black Pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
2 - Bay Leaves

For when the sauce is cooked:

1/2 Cup (125) - Red Wine Vinegar
Juice of half a Lemon
3/4 Cup (120ml) - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Place all the ingredients of the sauce to cook except the bay leaves into a small food processor and blend until smooth.
Put this mixture plus the two bay leaves into a small pot and allow this to simmer gently for about 45 minutes.
Once cooked, remove the bay leaves and add the additional red wine vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
Pour the peri peri sauce into jars and store in the fridge until required.