Gambas Pil Pil (Sizzling garlic and chilli prawns)

When it rains it pours in Sydney. This is the first rainy day I remember all year. I'm driving home in torrential rain, grateful that everyone else is driving slowly too. All I can see are the rows of red tail-lights glistening ahead on the wet road and suddenly I'm reminded of England. The wet roads, the traffic, the dark sky and the rain! I have just purchased half a kilo of fresh green prawns from Sydney Fish Market and can't wait to cook them. As I sit in my car, in the rain, listening to "Clocks" by Coldplay, I'm reminded of our favourite tapas dish that we used to love in a Spanish restaurant in London. Feeling nostalgic as I am at this moment I decide that that's what we're going to have for dinner tonight.

Now the beauty of this delicious dish is that it is so quick to make. It takes less than five minutes! It has just seven basic ingredients that don't require much preparation at all. I've used fresh, cleaned, deveined prawns with the tails intact.

A good few slices of bread is definitely needed to lap up the delicious juices.

Prepare this dish immediately before eating. It's meant to be brought to the table sizzling.

Alter the quantity of garlic and chilli to your taste. My quantities are merely suggestions. Garnish with parsley and serve with warm bread to dip in the delicious juices. Enjoy!

Recipe


You will need:

• Olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 500g fresh raw cleaned deveined prawns with tails intact
• 100ml white wine
• salt
• freshly chopped parsley

Pour olive oil into a saucepan until it is about 1.5cm deep. Heat the oil and add the chopped garlic, frying gently on low heat till lightly browned. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the dried chilli flakes and fry for a few seconds.

Then add the prawns, fry for a few seconds and add the wine. Cook till the prawns are pink, this takes about two minutes. In the last few seconds add the fresh parsley and serve sizzling to the table.