You know, I have at least 500 recipes in my Lotus database, this is
recipe 2. Never bothered sharing as its an old, forgotten,
laughed at, simple recipe from the 1960s. Recently I served it as
part of a seafood banquet and people were impressed. Never had
prawns and oysters that tasted so good together. I was shocked. Two generations that have never
had one of the all
time great recipes. Personally over the last few decades I made it
when the wife and kids were away. 300g of expensive cooked prawns, dozen
Sydney rock oysters, lettuce and tangy sauce. Quick. Simple. More oysters has always been the secret. Yum.
In the day this was on every menu and the quality varied greatly. It was always done in a large wine glass as described below. With 3 or 4 prawns and a couple of oysters, OK. Seafood cocktail is the same with the addition of crab meat, lobster meat, scallops and fish bits etc. Maybe it's better, don't think so. Sure does set it apart as a more complex and modern dish. Other than quality seafood and crisp lettuce the main the thing to get right is the sauce. Bottled sauces are not your friend. Condensed milk is my main ingredient. It firms up the sauce with real body. I must say, I like a Prawn cocktail. Simple, delicious.
Ingredients
Sauce:
1/3 cup Condensed Milk
1/3 cup Fountain spicy red sauce
Dashes Lemon juice
Fresh ground pepper
Dashes of tabasco
Lettuce leaves (crisp as)
12 large cooked King prawns
12 Oysters
Optional seafood
1 cooked small lobster
and or
1 cooked sand crab
and or
100g scallop meat
and or
whatever
Squid, octopus, salmon, tuna cubes and on and on.
Lemon wedges
Method::
Combine sauce ingredients. Adjust to taste. Refrigerate
Place and shape dry lettuce leaves into wine glasses. Bend over top to flow over glass and trim for effect, then refrigerate. Or shred the lettuce into strips and layer over a shell shaped dish.
Peel and devein prawns removing tails.
Remove lobster and crab meat from their shells and cut into pieces
Pan fry the scallops 2 minutes a side and dress with lemon butter.
Divide Prawns, (oysters, crab. scallops and lobster) into 4 even amounts for a wine glass or 2 even amounts for a shell dish. Layer sort of randomly half and add some sauce. Put remaining pieces on top and generously top with sauce. Put a cut of lemon wedges on the side.
In the day this was on every menu and the quality varied greatly. It was always done in a large wine glass as described below. With 3 or 4 prawns and a couple of oysters, OK. Seafood cocktail is the same with the addition of crab meat, lobster meat, scallops and fish bits etc. Maybe it's better, don't think so. Sure does set it apart as a more complex and modern dish. Other than quality seafood and crisp lettuce the main the thing to get right is the sauce. Bottled sauces are not your friend. Condensed milk is my main ingredient. It firms up the sauce with real body. I must say, I like a Prawn cocktail. Simple, delicious.
Ingredients
Sauce:
1/3 cup Condensed Milk
1/3 cup Fountain spicy red sauce
Dashes Lemon juice
Fresh ground pepper
Dashes of tabasco
Lettuce leaves (crisp as)
12 large cooked King prawns
12 Oysters
Optional seafood
1 cooked small lobster
and or
1 cooked sand crab
and or
100g scallop meat
and or
whatever
Squid, octopus, salmon, tuna cubes and on and on.
Lemon wedges
Method::
Combine sauce ingredients. Adjust to taste. Refrigerate
Place and shape dry lettuce leaves into wine glasses. Bend over top to flow over glass and trim for effect, then refrigerate. Or shred the lettuce into strips and layer over a shell shaped dish.
Peel and devein prawns removing tails.
Remove lobster and crab meat from their shells and cut into pieces
Pan fry the scallops 2 minutes a side and dress with lemon butter.
Divide Prawns, (oysters, crab. scallops and lobster) into 4 even amounts for a wine glass or 2 even amounts for a shell dish. Layer sort of randomly half and add some sauce. Put remaining pieces on top and generously top with sauce. Put a cut of lemon wedges on the side.
Prawn Cocktail Recipe
Straight from the 1960s
Straight from the 1960s
Scooter City Classic and New Recipes