Hot hot prawns are a traditional Angolan recipe is super easy and perfect for any barbecue. I used a pre-made peri-peri spice mixture with olive oil, however I would highly recommend you make the sauce from scratch. You just need to make it a few days ahead to get the proper flavor. (peri-peri is a hot chile that was brought to Africa from the Portuguese, the sauce can be used on any kind or poultry, pork ribs and of course shrimp. )
Cosa-Cosa Camarão (Hot-Hot Prawns)
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1 -2 lbs. About 36 large prawns or shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 limes juiced
- 6 Tablespoons Peri-Peri Sauce
- 12 Wooden skewers
- For the Sauce
- 4 to 8 fresh hot chilies. Please note that you will likely not find Peri-Peri chilies in the states other than dried. You can substitute Thai bird red jalapeno, arbol, cayenne or tabasco.
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lemon juiced
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup to 1 cup olive oil depending on how thick or thin you want the sauce.
Instructions
- For the Sauce: Coarsely chop the peppers and discard stems, taking care to use gloves when handling the very hot peppers.
- Place the chilies, their seeds, the garlic, lemon juice and salt plus the desired amount of oil into a food processor. Puree the mixture and place into a glass jar and let flavors meld for several days.
- The sauce should keep for up to 1 month in the refrigerator.
- For the prawns/shrimp:
- Toss the peeled and deveined prawns/shrimp into a bowl with the sea salt and set aside for 45 minutes.
- Put the wooden skewers to soak in water. (So they will not burn on the grill).
- When the prawns/shrimp are done marinating, toss them with the lime juice.
- Put 3-4 prawns/shrimp on the skewer
- Brush the prawns/shrimp with the peri-peri sauce, reserving some for dipping.
- Grill the prawns/shrimp on a medium high heat for just a couple of minutes per side until they turn pink. Do not overcook.
- Serve immediately with the reserved peri-peri sauce for dipping.
