Finger-licking Peri Peri Garlic Butter Prawns fry

This Finger-licking Peri Peri Garlic Butter Prawns fry is a spicy, buttery dish with succulent prawns, garlic, and lemon, perfect for seafood lovers!

The prawns come out perfectly succulent, with a beautiful pink color that makes them look as irresistible as they taste. The peri-peri marinade brings a fiery kick, balanced out by the buttery richness that coats every bite. The garlic adds a fragrant warmth that dances through the dish, and when combined with the zesty lemon, it creates a bright and flavorful burst that keeps you coming back for more.

The texture of the prawns is tender yet firm, with just enough bite to hold their own against the bold flavors. That slight crisp from the pan-fry seals in all the juiciness. And leaving the heads on? Genius. It adds an extra depth of flavor that takes this dish to the next level. This dish is perfect to mop up with some crusty bread or serve over a bed of savory rice. Once you’ve tasted these prawns, you’ll understand why it’s hard to stop at just one!

I was a child when my mother first started making her spicy Peri Peri Garlic Butter prawns fry recipe that was served with savory rice for Eid supper.  It was the only dish we never ever had leftovers of.

My mother had always used store bought peri peri marinades for her prawns fry, but the flavor profile seemed to change over the years as products changed. The one thing that remained constant was her use of peri peri oil, butter and garlic when pan frying the prawns. The peri peri oil intensifies the fiery flavor of the marinade. If peri peri oil is not available use any flavored chili oil or plain vegetable / grapeseed oil with the butter and some dried chili flakes.

If you try using butter alone to pan fry the prawns you may find that both the butter and marinade burn too easily.

When I moved to Dubai I couldn’t find anything similar to the peri peri marinades we used at home. After months of craving the prawns fry I finally found a store that stocked a well known South African brand and rejoiced at my good fortune. Regrettably the ingredient list turned me off using the marinade sachets and I finally decided to make my own homemade fiery Peri-Peri garlic marinade. It took me back to my childhood with the tangy spicy notes that was not overly sweet as many of the peri peri marinades seem to be now.

 

How to prepare Peri Peri Garlic Butter Prawns Fry

• Do not remove the heads as they are so tasty and the best part is sucking out the marinade from the cooked prawns.
• Do not peel the prawns but remove all the long wispy bits sticking out the front.
• It is easier to clean the prawns if they are still slightly cold and frozen as the flesh can come apart if you knife is not sharp enough.
• If required, rinse the prawns BEFORE cleaning because if you do it after they have been cut open it will retain too much water, diluting the marinade and making the pan waterlogged during cooking. Pat dry after rinsing.
• Cut down the back of the prawn from below the head to the tail but ensure that you don’t cut all the way through. Remove the alimentary canal.
• Marinate the prawns in the peri-peri sauce, garlic and lemon juice for no more than 30 minutes ensuring the flesh exposed by the cut in the back is covered by the marinade. Any longer and the prawns may turn mushy from the acidity in the lemon.
• Use a mixture of peri peri oil and butter to fry the prawns.

On a family vacation to Spain we found good sized prawns at a local supermarket near our apartment in Seville. By this time we were craving a home cooked meal with adequate protein. I made a very basic marinade for the prawns using the fiery small dried Spanish chillis, heaps of garlic and lemon juice. Though it was less saucy than using a bottled marinade, it was still very tasty. We even made savory rice without savory rice spice and it tasted very much like a meal from home.

Other recipes to try

• Mouthwatering Chicken Akni recipe (chicken pulao)
• Soul-satisfying Creamy Garlic Fusilli Pasta Recipe
• Mouthwatering Velvety Prawn Coconut Curry Soup
• Cape Malay Pepper Steak Pie (Vleis Pastei)

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