Kataifi prawns
Note: This is a scheduled post while I’m away, so replies to comments and emails will be slow. Enjoy!
I have a terrible habit of buying ingredients just because I’ve never seen them for sale before. I have no idea what to do with them and no plans for using them. My mind just goes “Oooooh,” and before I know it, I’m leaving the shop with it.
That’s how I ended up with a bag of kataifi pastry that sat around in the fridge for a month. Every time I saw it, I thought to myself, “Must cook that up.” But of course, once I closed the fridge, all thoughts of it disappeared.
Finally, the expiration date started looming, so I was forced to do something with it. The month that had passed hadn’t given me any inspiration, but fortunately there was a recipe on the back of the packet for kataifi prawns. Thank goodness for that recipe, because otherwise I probably would’ve had to throw it out!
Kataifi pastry look a bit like vermicelli. It’s made by pouring batter through a container with fine holes on to a heated metal plate that briefly cooks the pastry. It’s traditionally used for making sweets but can also be used for savoury items.
The recipe I followed for the prawns was super simple – the peeled prawns are dipped in egg, wrapped in the pastry, sprayed with oil, and then baked for ten minutes. I suppose it’s kind of comparable to filo pastry, but I found it much easier to work with because it didn’t need to be buttered. It also didn’t seem to dry out as easily.
And the result: excellent. Even with the short baking time, the pastry crisped up nicely and became crunchy. The prawns were just cooked and perfect – they could’ve used more seasoning but I did really like them with the pastry.
Next time I buy it I’ll be more inspired and do something other than prawns. I can just see myself wrapping everything in sight. π
PS: For anyone searching for it, I found mine at the supermarket inside Footscray market.
Ingredients
- 18 large prawns (about 850g)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- salt
- 125g Kataifi pastry
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220Β°C.
- Peel and de-vein the prawns, leaving the tails on.
- Place the pastry in a medium sized bowls and loosen with your finger tips until the strands are separated.
- Place about a heaped tablespoon of pastry on to a board and stretch it out to form a 15cm long strip. Cover the remaining pastry with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out.
- Season the egg with salt. Dip a prawn into the beaten egg, then place it at one end of the pastry strip. Roll the pastry around the prawn.
- Place on a baking tray and repeat with the remaining prawns.
- Spray lightly with olive oil and bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden and crispy.
Notes
Recipe from the back of the Kataifi pastry packet.
CheezyK
September 11, 2012 @ 11:02 am
Ah yeah … I would have had trouble walking past this one too!
Catherine
September 11, 2012 @ 11:06 am
Sounds simple but looks like it took a lot of effort – win!
Sarah
September 11, 2012 @ 5:54 pm
Oh yum! They look beautiful! We used to sell kataifi prawns at one of my old jobs: they had preserved lemon and dab green pesto-ey sauce inside with the prawns, served with a saffron yogurt dipping sauce- super yum! π
Jac
September 11, 2012 @ 8:24 pm
These look delicious and I love that they are baked in the oven and not fried!
Hannah
September 12, 2012 @ 2:04 am
It is physically impossible for me to see this word without screeching “KATA-EEEEEFEEEEEEEE!”
Do you think we could wrap a Snickers bar in this and deepfry it?
Iron Chef Shellie
September 23, 2012 @ 5:38 pm
OMG that is one of my worst habits… like today… I went to a Contiental place and Oasis Bakery… came home with crap I’ve never seen before π
Tony Antoniou
September 12, 2013 @ 8:48 am
So glad you picked up our Kataifi when you did. Great pics and instructions, one of the best we have seen. We have a few “interesting” recipe ideas on our website using the kataifi pastry that you might find of interest!