Recipe: Prawn cocktail with yogurt dressing

I was recently rekindled with one of my favorite British appetizers, prawn cocktail. And then I thought, this would be a really nice starter to be served during our Christmas meal this year.

Prawn cocktail is a popular British hors d'oeuvre, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. Prawns are dressed with Marie Rose sauce made from mayonnaise and ketchup. My version of prawn cocktail has a slight twist as I decided to make it with a healthier yogurt dressing.

Prawn cocktail with yogurt dressing

For this starter, you can use either peeled king prawns or even small plump peeled prawns would do. Since this is a cold starter, you should blanch the prawns in iced water after cooking. If using larger prawns, then chop them up into small chunks, but reserve a few whole ones for garnish.

To make the yogurt dressing, I used natural yogurt along with ketchup, Worchestershire sauce, garlic and cayenne pepper. Since yogurt is already quite tart, I omitted lemon which is usually added to Marie Rose sauce.

For an elegant starter, you can serve this in tall wine glasses. Place the chopped lettuce and cucumber followed by a dollop of prawns. Prop two prawns on the side of the glass. And there you have a simple, delicious and classy starter.

Prawn cocktail with yogurt dressing
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 2 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
12 king prawns, peeled and deveined with heads intact
2 lettuce leaves, chopped
1/2 Japanese cucumber, cubed
Shichimi or paprika, for dusting

For the dressing
3 tbsp yogurt
3/4 tbsp tomato ketchup
1/2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A few sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt, to taste



1. In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the dressing until smooth and set aside in the fridge until required.

2. Prepare a bowl of iced water. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Once boiling, add the prawns and cookfor 30-45 seconds, or until it changes to an orange hue (signifying that it is cooked). Remove immediately and place in the iced water. This will stop further cooking as well as cooling down the prawns as this is a cold starter.

3. Reserve 4 prawns. Peel and cut the remaining prawns into small chunks, then mix into the yogurt dressing.

4. Neatly place the lettuce leaves and Japanese cucumber in the wine glasses. Scoop the chopped prawns onto the salad and sprinkle some shichimi/paprika on top. Garnish each glass with two of the whole prawns.

I am submitting this to the "Baby Sumo's Christmas Recipes Collection 2013" event which I am hosting. You can link your recipes here.


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