Spot Prawn Ceviche with Garlic and Chili

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This is a dish that honestly I would never consider making until I tried it. Ceviche of Salmon, Tuna, Kingfish etc. is very common, however less common is the idea of raw Prawn. What converted us to this brilliance was an unforgettable dining experience at one of our all-time favorite restaurants – Night Market Song in Silverlake, CA. This restaurant is famed for their creative play on South-East Asian Street Food and their eclectic natural wine selection. It must have been the wines that inspired us to order this dish off the menu but oh boy we were so glad we did, as the Spot Prawn Ceviche was simply outstanding

The raw preparation of the dish and it’s ingredients is what makes the flavor so pronounced. Raw Garlic is an artform to incorporate into a dish without overpowering it and this dish absolutely nails it. The pairing of the Garlic with the Prawns and Chili, with the acid forward sauce is so simple, yet comes together like culinary magic!

Good quality Spot Prawns or Langoustines will make this dish great

Like all seafood, the key is getting quality produce. In this case we’re talking about Spot Prawns. Talk to your fish monger and have them provide you with their best Prawns for a raw preparation. You can use good quality Scampi or Langoustines if they are available. The absolute gold standard in our opinion however is the Santa Barbara Spot Prawns – a true delicacy of the ocean!

Depending on where about you are in the world, the best Prawns, Shrimp, or Langoustine to consume raw will differ greatly. Which is a good thing! You want to be eating freshly caught Shrimp that is local to your area. So we cannot stress enough how important it is to speak to your local Fish Mongers to get the right advice on which ingredient to choose for this recipe

Classic Southeast Asian Ingredients make this dish special

The flavor of this dish is so significantly amplified by the Spot Prawn Ceviche dressing that pairs with the Spot Prawns, which uses classic Southeast Asian Ingredients. The combination of Lime, Brown Sugar, Fish Sauce, Garlic, and Chilis instantly produces such a vibrant flavor which hits on notes of sweet, sour, and salty. What is great about this sauce, however, is even with all these bold flavors it doesn’t truly overpower the flavor of the Spot Prawn. The Prawn is still the star of the dish, and these ingredients really help to highlight its delicious flavor

How to make Spot Prawn Ceviche with Garlic and Chili

As this dish is a Ceviche there is no cooking involved. The beautiful Spot Prawns are bathed in an acidic sauce which will lightly ‘cook’ the Seafood. It is a wonderfully fresh, vibrant tasting dish. The assortment of ingredients truly packs a load of flavor into the dish

To make the dish, start by preparing the Spot Prawns or Langoustines you’ve gotten your hands on. Depending on the type of prawn, it may need to be prepared slightly differently. This dish is all about presentation, so our recommended way to prepare the prawn is to peel away the shells from the body, but keep the tail and head intact

This is, of course, optional. You can remove all the shells including the head and simply serve the meat. However, this isn’t the kind of dish you make every day, so why not make it look a little bit fancier on the plate if you can?

Preparing the Spot Prawn Ceviche Marinade

Once the Spot Prawns have been prepared, the next step is to create the Ceviche marinade. This is an extremely easy step in the process because all you need to do is combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Try to keep the cuts of Chili and Garlic quite uniform and thin. It will look better on the plate, and eat better if they are cut to the same shape and size

Simply place the peeled Spot Prawns into the Ceviche marinade and let the acid in the sauce do it’s work. Ensure that all the flesh of the Prawns is submerged in the Ceviche and leave them for about 10 minutes

You will notice during this time that the color of the flesh will turn from a somewhat translucent color to a deep white color. This shows that the Prawns are being cooked in the sauce. We’d recommend not leaving the prawns for too long in the sauce, as they can tend to get a little too acidic. You still want the natural taste of the prawns to shine through as the key flavor profile in the dish, not Lime Juice!

Plating your Spot Prawn Ceviche

You can have so much fun being creative on how to plate this dish. There’s no real right or wrong way to do it! Just have lots of fun making it look as spectacular as you can on the plate. The dish is meant to be served cold, so one fun way to plate could be to add a bunch of fresh Ice to a plate, then place the Spot Prawns on top

We’d recommend serving the marinade on the side as a dipping sauce. The prawns shouldn’t need too much more sauce as the flavor has already intensified into them during the marinating process. However, it’s always good to have an option of more sauce if needed

One recommendation we do have with plating is to ensure there is a generous amount of Chili and Garlic on the prawns. The heat in this dish is immense, but it is palatable and what makes the dish truly unique. You know you’re eating some spicy Thai food once you take a bite out of the Prawn, and that’s exactly the way it should be!

This recipe is for 2 people, 2 Prawns each. Mainly this is because the Prawns are quite expensive so definitely treat this recipe as a snack or appetizer. You’ll be going hungry if this is all you have for dinner! If you are making the dish for 4 people, simply double the amount of ingredients

Spot Prawn Ceviche with Garlic and Chili Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 Large Spot Prawns, peeled
• 2 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 Red Chili, thinly sliced
• Juice of 2 Limes
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp. Fish Sauce
  
  

Instructions

1. Combine the Lime Juice, Chilis, Salt, Sugar, Fish Sauce, and Garlic into a small bowl and mix. Optional if you want to use the Chili seeds or not. We’d recommend using a few as this recipe benefits a lot from that bunch of heat
2. Place the Prawns in the mixture and leave for 10 minutes, ensuring the flesh is well coated
3. Serve the Prawns with the Lime sauce on the side for dipping. Ensure that the Prawns are served with an ample coating of the Garlic and Chilis
   
   

It’s not an ‘every day’ dish given the Prawns are somewhat pricey and a little more difficult to find. However, I really encourage you to try this dish. It completely blew us away and changed our perspective on raw food. The raw Garlic creates an unbelievable kick of flavor and heat when combined with the sweet, salty sourness of the Ceviche sauce

There are a lot of dishes that will pair beautifully with this Spot Prawn Ceviche recipe. Our recommendation is this amazing Thai Green Chicken Curry. The bold, creamy flavors of the curry are a great contrast to the acid-heavy Spot Prawn dish, so they work very well as a starter / main combination

For a lighter main course, try our delicious Thai Mango Salad with Peanut Dressing. A fresh, healthy, and super tasty salad inspired by Southeast Asian ingredients

Happy Cooking!