Prawns sizzling in garlicky olive oil with a splash of wine. The whole table goes quiet. Get more bread ready right now.
A note from us
The cold-start method for the garlic is the defining technique here — add the sliced garlic to the cold olive oil and then bring them up to heat together. This draws out the flavour gently without burning the garlic. If you add garlic to already-hot oil in a very hot pan it will burn in seconds and turn bitter. Keep the heat medium-low and watch it carefully — you want golden, not brown. Dry sherry is the traditional choice and gives a more authentic flavour than white wine — fino or manzanilla work best. The sherry goes in at the end and creates the sauce when it hits the hot oil. Serve in the pan or a hot dish with plenty of crusty bread to soak up the oil.
What you need 🛒
How to make it 👨🍳
Pat the Raw king prawns dry with kitchen paper and season lightly with Salt.
Pour the Extra virgin olive oil into a wide, heavy pan over medium heat.
Add the Garlic cloves and Dried red chili or chili flakes. Cook gently for 2 minutes until the garlic turns pale gold at the edges — watch it closely, it goes from golden to burned in seconds.
Turn the heat to high and add the prawns in a single layer. They should sizzle loudly the moment they hit the oil.
Cook for 1–2 minutes until the undersides turn pink and opaque, then flip each prawn and cook for 1 more minute.
Pour in the Dry sherry or dry white wine — it will bubble up immediately. Let it reduce for 30 seconds.
Scatter over the Flat-leaf parsley and taste for Salt. Serve immediately in the pan with Crusty bread alongside for soaking up the garlicky oil.
