Last of the season "grilled" spot prawns with garlic scape, cilantro and lime aioli
Grill
I really know that summer has arrived in Victoria when two items appear in my fish market -- wild spot prawns and Coho salmon. The prawns appear first and they are only available for about two months. A sustainable seafood, they are caught in traps just off Vancouver Island. In May and June, spot prawns are a food beloved by chefs here and for a few short weeks they pop up on restaurant menus everywhere.
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<br />Spot prawns are bigger than the largest jumbo shrimp. Their shell are a beautiful pinkish-red. Some fish markets sell the prawns with their heads on; however, my fish monger takes the heads off right before selling them. Spot prawns have a buttery, sweet flavor, almost like East Coast lobster, and a lovely firm texture. They are not inexpensive, but at this time of year I can't resist splurging at least a couple of times during the course of prawn season.
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<br />I decided to do a spot prawn recipe for this contest because while the prawns I prepare literally aren't "raw," they need very little cooking time. One recipe I found advocated steaming them for just twenty seconds! I usually like to poach them in butter. But for this recipe I thought that I would try grilling them. However, when the weather turned drizzly, I decided to simply do a quick sear on my stove in a cast iron pan. I had plenty of garlic scapes and cilantro in my garden, and my fish monger gave me the heads from the prawns, so I combined all of these ingredients to make a flavorful dipping sauce.
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