Everything You Need To Know About Chilli Seafood Recipes

These are the Best Of The Best as far as chilli seafood recipes go.

You may notice that in prawn, yabby, and marron recipes below, I frequently do not bother to remove the intestine from the tails. There are two reason for this; one, most commercially available shellfish have been purged in clean water before sale, and ; two, it's a fiddly job that I don't really believe is worth the hassle. In the end, it's up to you.

Prawn Ceviche

Sweet Chilli Lime Prawns

Salt & Pepper Squid

Crab Cakes With Lemon Garlic Sauce

Keralan Special Seafood Curry

Gambas al Pil Pil (Spicy Pan Fried Prawns)

Prawn Cocktails On A Stick

Piri Piri Prawns

makes 12 serves

• 1.5kg prawns, peeled, deveined
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
• 1-2 serrano chillies, de-seeded and diced
• 8 limes, juiced
• 8 lemons, juiced
• 2 oranges, juiced
• 2 large avocados, diced
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and diced

Add lemon, lime and orange juice to the prawns in a bowl and marinate for 12 hours - making sure the prawns are covered by the juice.

Add red onion, tomatoes, chillies and coriander, and season with salt and black pepper - Marinate for 2 more hours.

Garnish with avocados, cucumber and freshly ground black pepper before serving.

I adapted this recipe from one I found on one of the multitude of blogs that I read and it is fantastic

• 1kg large prawns (e.g. king, banana, or tiger prawns)
• Juice and zest of 2 limes
• 1 - 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1-2 tbsp jalapeno or serrano chillies, diced
• 1 tsp dried coriander powder

Soak some bamboo skewers overnight (or use steel ones like me), making sure you have one for each prawn.

Remove the shells from the prawn's tail, leaving the heads intact. Remove the intestine from the back by cutting a small slit with a knife and fishing it out with the point.

Mix together all the other ingredients in a bowl and alter to taste. Pack the prawns into a large casserole dish and carefully pour the marinade over the top. Leave for about 2-3 hours, giving the prawns a toss every hour to make sure they’re all getting the chance to be marinated.

Just before cooking, thread each prawn onto a skewer by holding it firmly in hand, inserting the skewer from between the tail fins and up the body up into the head.

Fire up the barbeque (or grill) and just before cooking, give them a light brush with some melted butter to stop them sticking. Grill them for no more than 2-3 minutes each side, removing them to a plate once they lose their opaque colour and are nice and fragrant.

Serve with some steamed rice and a simple citrussy salad and enjoy!

This is how I cook this seafood classic at home.

• 3 (about 600g) large cleaned squid hoods
• 1L (4 cups) vegetable oil
• 40g (1/4 cup) plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• Lemon wedges and soy sauce with
• sliced fresh red chilli, to serve

Use a sharp knife to cut through 1 side of each squid hood lengthways. Open out flat with inside surface facing up and score surface diagonally. Cut into 3.5cm squares and pat dry with paper towel.

Heat the oil in a large wok over medium heat until it reaches 190°C on a oil thermometer. (Or, add a 5cm cube of bread to the oil - it should turn light golden in 10 seconds.)

Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt, pepper, Chinese five-spice and chilli powderin a medium bowl. Add the squid and toss gently to coat.

Remove half of the squid from the flour mixture and shake off any excess. Add to the oil and cook, turning with a slotted metal spoon, for 2 minutes or until the squid just turns golden and curls.

Use the slotted spoon to transfer the squid to a large plate lined with paper towel to drain. Reheat the oil in the wok to 190°C. Repeat with the remaining squid.

Serve immediately with the lemon wedges and chilli-soy sauce (if you haven't got any, just soak some chopped, hot chillies in the soy sauce for a couple of hours before using) and cold lager.

Makes 6 serves

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons lemon juice, divided use
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1.5 teasp salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly black pepper
• 600g fresh crab meat
• 1.5 cups bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teasp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 teasp Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 teasp cayenne powder
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 teasp olive oil

Lemon-Garlic Sauce:

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise with half the amount of each: lemon juice, garlic, salt and black pepper.

Mix well and set aside.
Crab Cakes:

Check the crab meat for pieces of shell and gently squeeze out any excess moisture.

Do not break up the large pieces of meat, as these enhance the texture of the crab cakes.

Combine crab meat, bread crumbs and parsley in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne with the remaining lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.

Pour over the crab mixture and mix gently until thoroughly combined.

Divide mixture into 4 equal portions and flatten into 2cm thick cakes.

Heat a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and swirl to coat.

When the oil is hot, add the crab cakes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Serve immediately with reserved lemon-garlic sauce.

The below recipe is a true Keralan classic as indicated by the presence of Kudampuli in the ingredient list. This is difficult, but not impossible, to obtain if you have an asian store that has an Indian bent to it.

Kudampuli, othwerwise known as Keralan tamarind, is the dried rind of the fruit of the Gambooge tree and is used in Kerala fairly exclusively for giving a sour taste to fish curries.

If you can't get it, substitute in some tamarind pulp as it is sort of the same.

• 500g fish fillets
• 200g prawn flesh, raw but peeled
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 teasp tumeric powder
• 2 teasp coriander seed powder
• 1 teasp ground black pepper
• 3 green cayenne chillies (or similar), de-seeded and coarsely chopped
• 2 teasp chilli powder (choose your preferred heat level)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2-3cm piece ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups coconut cream
• 4 pieces Kudampuli, or substitute in 2 teasp tamarind pulp(no seeds)
• 1 teasp yellow mustard seeds
• 1/2 teasp fenugreek seeds
• 6 curry leaves
• salt
• 2 tasblesp vegetable oil

Heat vegetable oil on high and add the mustard and fenugreek seeds and let them pop.

Add the onion and garlic and saute on medium until the onion is clear.

Then add the ginger and when this becomes fragrant add the salt, tumeric, coriander seed, and black pepper and stir for few seconds.

Add the tomato, kudampuli (or tamarinf pulp) and one cup water and one cup of the coconut cream and simmer until the tomato is cooked.

Then add fish fillets, prawns and the remaining 1 cup coconut milk. Cook till it is done on a low heat.

When the oil begins to float on top, place the green chillies and curry leaves over it.

Keep the lid closed and remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Serve with rice and I'd also suggest a glass or two of chilled riesling.

Prawns are plentiful off the coast of Spain and no tapas bar would dare to open without some version of garlic prawns on the menu.

• 500g medium prawns, peeled and deveined (any size prawn is good as long as it's not the little cocktail ones out of the tins)
• 4 whole garlic cloves plus 1 teasp minced garlic
• 2 tablsp lime juice
• 2 tablsp butter
• ˝ teasp ground paprika
• ˝ teasp crushed piquin chillies
• 1 tablsp sea salt
• 2 tablsp dry sherry
• 3 tablsp olive oil, virgin

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over moderately high heat with the whole garlic until hot but not smoking. Add the prawns and cook for a few seconds to seal in the flavor and then remove.

Pour out all of the oil and discard the garlic. Return the prawns to the frying pan and reheat over medium-high heat. Pour the lime juice over the prawn and add the butter, minced garlic, paprika, piquins, and sherry.

Simmer until the prawns have turned pink, which will only take a couple of minutes.

Take care to not overcook them as it ruins both the flavour and the texture of the prawns.

Serve with your favourite white wine or rose, chilled, and watch a sunset with some friends.

I was inspired to develop this recipe by an Australian movie called Take Away that had a character, Trev, played by Steven Curry, who owned a fish & chip shop and whose idea of innovation was to put everything on a stick; dim sims, potato fritters, everything.

Don't let that put you off - these cocktails taste great and are extremely easy.

The Cocktails

• 24 cooked king prawns, peeled (tails left intact), deveined
• 2 avocados, cut into 2cm cubes, lightly salted and drizzled with lime juice

The Cocktail Sauce

• 1 1/2 tablsp tomato sauce (preferably one you made yourself)
• 1/2 cup whole-egg mayonnaise (I use Thomy at home)
• 1 teasp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teasp Tabasco, or, preferably, your own favourite Louisiana-style hot sauce
• 1 lime, juiced

Taste and add more hot sauce, if desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Skewer 1 prawn and 1 piece avocado onto each cocktail stick.

Arrange on a plate and serve with cocktail sauce.

• 1 kg large raw prawns
• 4 red cayenne chillies, deseeded
• 7 birds eye chillies
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 185ml white wine vinegar
• 0.5 cup olive oil
• 150g mixed lettuce leaves

De-head and de-shell the prawns and store in the fridge.

OK, now we need to make the sauce/marinade. Put the cayennes and the vinegar on a saucepan and simmer for approximately 5-7 minutes, until the chillies go soft.

Put the cayennes, 60ml of the vinegar, the birds eye chillies, and the garlic in a food processor and blend until smooth. Then, with the motor still running, gradually add the oil and remaining vinegar.

Take enough of the marinade out to cover the prawns and keep the marinading prawns in the fridge.

Heat the barbecue or grill plate up to high heat, and cook the prawns for 2 minutes each side, basting with marinade while they cook.

Arrange the lettuce leaves on four plates and top it with the prawns and a little of the sauce (not the portion used as marinade). Serve immediately with a cold beer or chilled white wine.