I often get confused and I am still confused when people talk about prawns and shrimp. To some people prawns and shrimps are the same, but depending on the countries prawns and shrimp can also be different. For some countries such as America and some parts of Asia they are called prawns, where as in Australia and other parts of Asia they are called shrimp. The reason I am confused is because where I grew up shrimps are very small generally smaller than 0.5cm and are always found in fresh water. Where as prawns are bigger often coming in different sizes and types and are from salt water.
Because the shrimps from where I grew up are always small they are always eaten whole, where prawns always need to be peeled before eating. This is my understanding of prawns and shrimps. We don’t get fresh water shrimp in Australia so to me they are all prawns, that’s why when they call them shrimps I get confused sometimes.
The fact is that prawns and shrimps are similar in many ways, however there are a few features that can help to identify the differences between shrimps and prawns. What makes them very much the same is that both have 10 legs with the same body structure and they have very similar flavour, they also like to stay near the ocean, river or lake floor. Unlike the body structure their gill structures are different, shrimp have branching gills, while prawns have lameller gills with a platelike structure. Prawns are also considered to be bigger, while shrimps are smaller.
Note: there are many ways to cook prawns such as poaching, deep-fry or stir-fry ..etc. Prawns have very lean flesh protected by the shells, because of their lean meat they can become dry fast when cooking. What I like to do in stir-frying to prevent them from getting too dry and hard is to cook them on hight heat with seasoning for a very short time then adding other ingredients to finish up. The other way I like to cook them is to add the ingredients that need a longer cooking time first before adding in the prawns.
I wouldn’t say that you must use this specific type of prawns for your cooking, because different people prefer different types and sizes so it’s really dependent on the type that you like. Green tiger prawns are my favourite so they are the ones that I will be using in most of my prawns recipes.
Like mentioned in my pork fried rice recipe, it is very important to cook the rice a bit crispier/drier than you would normally would. Because if your rice is too soft, when added into the stir fry to make fried rice the rice might get even softer and soggy from the stir-fry liquid. This fried rice is an inspiration from a Cambodian dish, stir-fry prawns with lime and pepper sauce.
PEPPER PRAWNS FRIED RICE
Prep- Time: 10 mins Serve: 1
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Ingredients
10 green tiger prawns, peel and de-vein
1 1/2 tsp grounded pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
4 cloves garlic, mince
1 small spring onion, chopped
1/2 Lebanese cucumber, sliced
1/2 a handful of sliced green cabbage
1/4 lime
3 tbsp oil
2-3 cups steamed jasmine rice
Method
Prepare a serving plate with the sliced cucumber and green cabbage. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat. Once the oil is heated, add in the garlic and cook the garlic until it is fragrant and turns light brown.
Add in the prawns along with all of the seasoning and then stir to cook for 2 minutes. Once most parts of the prawns are cooked, go ahead and add in the steamed rice. Stir to separate the rice for 5 minutes or until mixed well with the rest of the ingredients in the wok.
Remove from heat and transfer on to the prepared serving plate. Top with the spring onion and the lime wedge.