How to Butterfly Prawns
Knowing how to butterfly prawns will allow you to grill or BBQ them. A handy technique for larger species, butterflying is the process of cutting them in half lengthways and flattening them out, spreading the surface area to allow for even grilling. This ‘how to’ breaks down this simple process for you.
Steps
1- Do not cook or peel the prawn first!
2- Uncurl. Uncurl the prawn, belly-side facing upwards.
3- Cut a line from underneath the head of the prawn to the tip of the tail using a sharp knife, making sure the knife cuts through the meat but not the outer shell of the prawn.
4- Open up the prawn fully. If you like, you can remove the black intestinal tract from the prawn by scraping it out with the tip of a sharp knife. This is called ‘deveining’.
5- Grill on the butterflied side.
Tip
Try a very light honey (and perhaps ginger and chilli) glaze, finely brushed over the prawns just before cooking