Known by a plethora of names – here in Australia it is sometimes known as a Coral Prawn, Giant Red Prawn or Velvet Prawn, the Spanish and Portuguese call it “Carabineros”, the French “Crevette Imperiale”, they are renowned for their jumbo size, striking bright red color and intense deep flavour.
This is one of the more unique seafoods in Australia, it is the result of a new fishery which is being developed in consultation with the Queensland Government and Fisheries Research. Historically, the catch of this species has been random, mostly bycatch of the more abundant ROYAL RED PRAWN fisheries.
Caught in depths of 400 -2,000 metres, in the deep oceanic trenches of the South Coral Sea between 50 and q00km off the coast of South East Queensland, the prawns are graded and frozen at -45c on the catching vessel.
Their flesh is translucent and finely textured with a soft yielding bite and deep, umami rich aftertaste. They have a large liver which sits behind the head and the main carapace.
The Scarlet Prawn is best cooked shell on, its natural layer of fat which sits under the shell, rendering during cooking to retain both moisture & texture.
