Quick Spanish recipe with prawns
I don't write about Spanish dishes very often. Why is that? Let's say that the Spanish cuisine is definitely not my cup of tea. To be honest, I prefer eating out rather than at home, that's the first fact about me you need to know. The second one is that I prefer Asian (I am constantly dreaming about Pad Thai) or Italian cuisine rather than the Spanish one. And there is something more: there are many versions of typical Spanish dishes and, in my opinion, it is really hard to define which of them should be called "the real recipe".
Let's see: The original Spanish tortilla contains onion or not? The real Spanish paella (never say that paella is just rice with things - many Spaniards get offended when they hear it) should include the rabbit meat? What if we put some chorizo in it? Would that still be a paella? Can we say that we are eating patatas bravas when there is no salsa brava? How about "pan con tomate"? We can only rub the tomato over a toast ir is it permitted to mix tomato, salt and olive oil in a bowl apart? Can we make an original Spanish gazpacho using tap water or it has to be a bottled one?
The worst thing is that, the more Spaniards you'll meet on your way, the more answers you will obtain, which is why I don't think it's possible to publish an original Spanish recipe that sooner or later wouldn't become polemical. You know, everyone thinks that the best and the most original version of a particular dish is the one he or she learned at home. Especially in Spain.
Sometimes however, I want or I have to prepare something, either because I don't have money to eat out or because I have some guests at home. And when cooking is compulsory I want it to be quick. When that happens, the Spanish cuisine turns out to be my best friend. There are many time-saving Spanish recipes, but for today I have chosen the one I have once seen at my parents-in-law's place and I liked it so much that it stayed with me. The recipe in question is called gambas al ajillo where gambas are prawns/shrimps and ajillo is a kind of sauce composed of fried garlic (ajo frito), salt (sal) and olive oil (aceite de oliva). This Spanish style prawns are so easy and quick to prepare that I eat them at least twice a week. And if, just like me, you are, what I call, an impatient cook, you'll quickly understand why.
Express Spanish style fried prawns - ingredients
- Prawns (peeled and precooked)
- 10-12 garlic cloves
- Cayenne pepper
- Parsley
- Salt
- Olive oil
Bear in mind that the ingredients might be added in varying proportions. It depends of how spicy do you like your prawns.
Spanish fried prawns with garlic - recipe
Since I share with you the fastest version of this recipe, I suggest to use peeled and precooked prawns. You must know however that the version with unpeeled and raw prawns that you have to prepare from scratch is even yummier. For the moment though, just prepare your peeled and precooked prawns in a bowl.
The next step is to chop the garlic and to put it toghether with cayenne pepper into a hot frying pan (that you previously arrosed with olive oil). After several minutes (make sure that the garlic is not burnt) you add prawns, salt and chopped parsley and you keep frying it until it's done. That's all! Now you can eat it however you want: plain, with bread or salad.
Easy-peasy, isn't it? Or do you prefer more sophisticated Spanish recipes?