4 (as a starter)

Chargrilled Citrus-Salted Prawns with Hot Pepper Sauce

My Citrus Salt goes with so many foods. Treat it as a seasoning – it’s fab on chips and sweet potato wedges. Be careful when handling the Scotch bonnet chillies – use rubber gloves or lightly oil your fingers before prepping and make sure you wash your hands afterwards. For those of you who love things spicy – this hot pepper sauce really has one hell of a kick!

Found in this book

Ainsley's Caribbean Kitchen

Ebury Press

Method

Preheat a chargrill pan over a medium–high heat.

First, make the citrus salt. Place the citrus zests into a pestle and mortar, add a small pinch of the salt and grind to a fine paste. Add the remaining salt and the spices and mix together.

To make the hot pepper sauce. Place the onion, garlic and chillies into the hot chargrill pan or a frying pan, drizzle with a little olive oil and fry over a medium–high heat for 4–5 minutes or until nicely charred. Pop into a blender or food processor, add the orange juice, a good splash of rum and the herbs and blend until smooth. Transfer to a serving dish.

Place the prawns in a large bowl, add the oil and citrus salt and mix together. Place the prawns onto the hot chargrill and cook for 4–5 minutes or until cooked through, turning occasionally to prevent burning.

Serve the prawns with the hot pepper sauce. Any leftover sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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Ingredients

  • 300g large king prawns, peeled, de-veined, tails left on
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp Citrus Salt
  • For the Citrus Salt
  • 75g sea salt
  • zest of 2 limes
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • zest of 1 pink grapefruit
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • For the Hot Pepper Sauce
  • 1 large onion, halved with root intact, cut into 8 wedges
  • 5 garlic cloves, whole
  • 100g Scotch bonnet chillies, halved and de-seeded
  • a drizzle of olive oil
  • juice of 1 orange
  • a good splash of rum
  • a large handful of fresh herbs (I use tarragon, flat-leaf parsley and coriander)