Grilled Apricot & Hoisin Glazed Prawns

These babies are lip-smacking, finger-licking good!

With the big three-oh looming next week I decided it’s time for a change… hopefully for the better. Somehow everywhere I look there’s clutter in the house. Is this what happens when you have children? They turn everything upside down, you get no free time and eventually things start slipping.

Recently, while still reading the book I started my own little Happiness Project. Every day I set myself small, achievable targets. It feels so good to tick them off every day and at the end of each week there is one big, fat reward for me, e.g. a massage. Cleaning up the house is a mammoth of a task but after years of experimenting I’ve come to the conclusion that doing little things often helps. Week 1 has been successfully completed, now I’m in Week 2.

While on my decluttering mission, I came across a bagful of dusty chess trophies that my parents lugged all the way from South Africa. Dates ranged from 1991 to 2001. Almost every weekend and all holidays for 10 years I played chess tournaments. Some would say that chess was my hobby in my school going years but that would be a gross understatement. A second vocation would be more accurate. Yet it all feels like a lifetime ago and when I held a trophy in my hand I felt… nothing. Why bother keeping them?

After each victorious tournament my parents celebrated with me. We used to go to restaurants and order a mega-whopper of a grilled seafood platter and drown it all with Buck’s Fizz. Being an only child certainly had its perks.

Whenever I see prawns now, I still associate them with celebration. In the UK they are much more readily available and I daresay cheaper than in South Africa. The glaze makes the whole dish rather special with an Asian twist. One prawn, and you would want to eat the whole lot!

So what happened to the trophies? I was about to bin them when it occurred to me that I can advertise them on Free Cycle. A middle-aged man actually came and picked them up. Bizarre.

Before you think I’ve gone completely mad, I did keep two trophies. They were won when I reached the pinnacle of my chess career and then retired, undefeated. It’s a good feeling and serves as a reminder to me that if I put my mind to it I can achieve whatever I want.

What about you? Would you have chucked the trophies? (You will get brownie points from me if you tell me I was sensible!)

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Grilled Apricot & Hoisin Glazed Prawns

Prep 20 minutes

Cook 8 minutes

Total 28 minutes

Servings 3

These babies are lip-smacking, finger-licking good!

Author: Michelle Minnaar

Ingredients

• 1kg (2 lbs) raw shell-on tiger prawns
• 15ml (1 tbsp) sesame seeds
• 30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
• 15ml (1 tbsp) garlic, crushed
• 2.5cm (1 inch) ginger, grated
• 30ml (2 tbsp) soy sauce
• 125ml (½ cup) hoisin sauce
• 125ml (½ cup) apricot jam

Instructions

1. With a sharp knife, score down the back of the shrimp. Remove the thin, digestive tract with the tip of the knife. Repeat with the rest of the prawns. Rinse the prawns under running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place the prawns in a large bowl.
2. Heat the seeds in a dry pan over medium heat, until golden and fragrant, for about 5 minutes. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat and sauté garlic and ginger for 2 minutes. Stir in the apricot jam, soy sauce and hoisin. Bring to a simmer then let it cool.
4. Toss the prawns in the cooled sauce and marinate for up to 4 hours.
5. Just before serving, preheat the grill. Transfer the prawns to the grill pan and grill as close to the heat as possible for 6-8 minutes, turning and basting frequently with the marinade juices, until the prawns are pink, and slightly charred.
6. Transfer the prawns to a warmed serving platter and scatter the toasted sesame seeds over them. Serve warm or cold.

Recipe Notes

• We like to eat egg noodles on the side.
• You can cook the prawns on the barbecue if you prefer.
• Don’t forget the finger bowls!
• If you’re wheat and gluten intolerant, use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 439

Amount Per Serving
Calories 569
% Daily Value
Total Fat 14.1g		22%
	Saturated Fat 2.2g	11%
Sodium 1224mg		51%
Total Carbohydrates 44.7g		15%
	Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
	Sugars 32.6g
Protein 62.5g		6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Other notably recipes on the web:

• You can grill these babies on the barbecue instead and serve them with roosterkoek.