How to Make Prawn and Fruit Cocktail Salad with Spicy Mayo Dressing
International dishesSaladsUnited States15 minutes preparation, 25 minutes cooking
A prawn and fruit cocktail salad with a mayonnaise and hot chili dressing is a cool starter, with firm boiled prawns sitting alongside apple, grapes, orange and strawberry. The pink dressing is lightly rich, with a gentle heat on the finish.
The hardest part is timing the five minutes of boiling for the prawns. Soaking them in lightly salted water and boiling them with celery and leek is the key move for a clean, sweet flavour. The common mistake is leaving the prawns to cool in the pot, where they keep cooking and lose their snap.
This batch weighs about 1.1kg, at roughly 49 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash 1 strawberry and cut it into small wedges. Wash 3 grapes, halve them and remove the seeds. Core 1 apple, slice it and cut into dice. Peel 1 orange and separate the segments.
Thinly slice 1 cherry tomato. Wash 2 stalks of leek and 2 stalks of celery, then slice them thinly. Trim 20g green curly lettuce, 20g red cabbage and 20g lettuce, and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon salt in 300ml water, soak 80g black tiger prawns for 5 to 10 minutes, then rinse several times and drain.
Bring 200ml water to a boil, add the celery and leek, then drop in the prawns and boil for about 5 minutes until they turn pale orange.
Lift the prawns out and plunge them straight into cold water to firm up, then remove the heads and shells, keeping the tails on for presentation.
Make the dressing: mix 1 tablespoon Lean Mayo, 1 tablespoon ketchup, 1/2 teaspoon hot red chili sauce, 1/2 teaspoon orange liqueur and 1/2 teaspoon Cognac, stirring until smooth.
Lay the lettuce leaves on a plate, arrange the fruit over them in alternating pieces, add the prawns and spoon the dressing across the salad.
Toss gently so the dressing coats everything, then arrange in glasses with the prawns hooked around the rim, tails pointing out.
Tips
A slice of ginger, a cinnamon stick or a splash of beer in the boiling water softens any strong smell from the prawns.
Dropping the prawns straight into cold water once they come out firms the flesh and makes them easier to peel.
Leaving the tails on while peeling lets you hook them around the rim of the glass for a tidy look.
Half a teaspoon of hot chili sauce is enough for a warm finish without covering the fruit.
Toss the dressing through just before serving so the leaves and fruit do not weep.
Need kOBE Lean Mayo?
The recipe above uses kOBE Lean Mayo for the richness. See the product page or send us a message.