How do you like your prawn cocktail?

Our editor Jo Hill talks prawn cocktail with leading restaurateur Mark Hix, who recently hosted an event to launch Birds Eye Emperor Prawns at Hix Soho...

Mark says: “The new Birds Eye Emperor prawns are really good – prawns freeze particularly well and these are frozen within two and a half hours of being caught, which really retains their texture and taste. The same goes for frozen peas which are often so much better than fresh ones!

“Because of the nature of the ingredients in a prawn cocktail, the prawns do need to be particularly good ones – quite big, with a good flavour and meaty texture. All too often, prawn cocktail includes small prawns that really don’t have much presence. The important thing is that the prawns complement the sauce and vice versa.
“Prawns of the quality of the Birds Eye ones need a good sauce. This is really important – you don’t want the flavours of the sauce to be too strong or they will overwhelm the prawns and it’s all about texture. I use mayonnaise, a bit of tomato ketchup (not too much or it will dominate), horseradish, Pernod, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. The aim is that you can taste the ingredients – not just the tomato ketchup.

“I prefer to use crispy crunchy lettuce like Cos or Iceberg – softer leaves like frisee and lollo rosso just don’t work. A good prawn cocktail is all about texture, so I also add in a bit of cucumber and spring onion.”
Frozen Birds Eye Emperor Prawns are part of the Birds Eye Catch Fresh range and are caught sustainably. Find them at major supermarkets, from £3.99 for 175g.

Here is Mark’s recipe:

Emperor Prawn Cocktail

Serves 2

I love classics like the prawn cocktail, it’s really a difficult starter to beat and you very rarely hear anyone say they don’t like a prawn cocktail. Good quality prawns make all the difference!

Ingredients

• 150g Birds Eye Emperor Prawns (15 prawns)
• 1 little lettuce gem
• 1 head of chicory (optional)
• 2 spring onions, finely shredded
• ¼ small cucumber, shredded into matchstick sized pieces
• ½ lemon cut in half

For the sauce
• 2 ½ tbsp. good quality or homemade mayonnaise
• 2 ½ tbsp. tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• A few drops of Tabasco sauce
• Juice of half an orange
• ½ tbsp. creamed horseradish or ½ tbsp. freshly grated horseradish
• ½ tbsp. Pernod or Ricard (optional)
• 1 tbsp. chopped dill
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to make it:

• Shred the lettuce and chicory as finely as you can, and mix with the spring onions and cucumber
• Put all of the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl, whisk until well mixed and season to taste
• To serve, put half a tablespoon of sauce into large martini glasses or ice-cream dish, place the lettuce mixture on top and pile the Emperor Prawns on top and spoon the sauce over the prawns
• Serve with the lemon quarters

Preparation Time – 10-15 min