In case you guys never knew Prawn hooking or “prawning” is a delicate sport using a light pole, a colorful float and a tiny curved hook. Unfortunately, the one thing that baits a prawn is Chicken hearts. Especially ones that look as bad as they smell! Blah!! Once you literally have your “heart” on the line, lower it into the deep dark waters and wait till the prawns go for the nibble!
The generalized life cycle of a prawn: Prawn are pretty potandrous hermaphrodites, (both sexes) spending the early part of life cycle as males and the later part as females. Sorta like female teens growing up in the 90’s they dress like males but now are back to being female~
Wanna know how prawns get it on?
Breeding is usually complete by the end of October. Females lay eggs which remain attached to abdominal appendages until hatching in March and April, usually between 70-90 m water depth. Free-swimming larvae or nauplii spend 2-3 months in plankton.
Late and post-larvae remain in shallow water (less than 54 m) until winter months. Prawn reside in shallow water bays and inlets during first year because detritus from summer plankton and larger algae production supports amphipods and mysids which are preyed upon by young prawns. One year after hatching, at about 100 mm, prawns move to deeper (over 100 m) and by autumn males reach 150 mm. In fourth spring, at 200 mm, they change to females. Maximum life span is 5 years, but most live 4 years, and maximum length for males is 230 mm and 253 mm for females. But who says size matters right?
Every year at this time we hear a lot about proper handling of prawns and their storage.
The following information is a guide to proper storage procedures to ensure your products are enjoyed as they should be: fresh tasting and wonderful!
-You can keep fresh prawn on ice or refrigerated (about 380F) for up to 24 hours.
- Don’t forget to behead the prawn and take out the vein before eating!
-It’s very important that the prawns don’t sit in water. Place the prawn in a strainer with ice and have a pan underneath for catching the melt-water.
-If prawns are held fresh on ice or refrigerated for up to 2 days, we recommend they be deheaded as soon as possible and washed in cold water.
-For longer term storage, ice packed whole prawns should be processed (deheaded) and frozen at the end of a 1-day holding period.
-Frozen whole prawns store well for up to 12 months. Afterwards the tails appear to be softer than those of headless prawns frozen for the same period. Therefore, if you are not going to eat the head, it is best to dehead the prawn before freezing.
-When freezing prawns use a freezer bag (such as a ZipLock®). Add just enough water to cover the prawns. Squeeze the air out of the bag (caution not to puncture the bag) and seal. It is best to freeze prawns flat. Consider grouping prawns based on their size (i.e. freeze the small prawns in one bag and the larger prawns in another.)
The actual Beheading:
Assuming, you have a whole prawn, with head attached. The quickest way to behead a prawn is to pinch the base of the head and tear it off, then trim off the guts. You can throw away the head. My parents used to boil it and suck out the inside. They loved it. Not really for me though… eecch!
1. First, peel off all the scales.
2. Then, position the prawn with it’s back towards the top. You should see a dark “vein” just below the skin through the middle of the prawn from tail to head.
3. With a small pairing knife, cut into the prawn about ⅓ way deep (the knife will meet some resistance and that’s where you stop). Then, slice shrimp from ⅓ from the tail all the way towards the head (or the lack there of). The pros slice the entire length of the shrimp to clean the entire thing, but it is not essential.
4. In in the prawn’s back, is this dark blue/black/green “vein”. Using your knife, tease out the entire length of this vein and pull it out.
Done. It’s rather easy. It might be a little gross and intimidating the first time, but it gets easier.
Cooking prawns is even easier. Mix the prawns with salt, pepper, and whatever store bought savory sauce or spices you want. Cook it in a pan over medium heat with some olive oil. It is done when it turns pink and becomes a little stiff. I also LOVE to make Prawn kebobs, on the BBQ SO YUM!
TIP: Some fish monger measures the size of prawns using strange numbers such as 16/20 or 18/24. These numbers indicates how many prawns you get in a pound. So 16/20 means you will get 16 to 20 prawns in a pound.
Happy BeHeading!!!
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