Parched conditions lead to bounty of large prawns

IT has been “raining prawns” in Penang, and other parts of Malaysia too.

As such, prawn lovers have been enjoying the bounty by purchasing the large variety in bulk and cooking these shellfish in a range of dishes.

Recently, my wife bought extra-large prawns for RM65 per kg, picking out 600g of the shellfish and therefore paying RM39.

Since she ended up with 10 prawns, this meant that each piece was just RM3.90.

If you are still having trouble visualising this, take a ruler and measure out 20cm – that was almost the length of each prawn.

It is unlikely you will find prawns this size at your neighbourhood rice stall.

I have seen such sizes at premium nasi kandar restaurants, but let’s just say that your wallet will be much lighter after dining on that curried jumbo prawn.

At a time when prices of so many things are rising, having a big prawn costing RM3.90 for that bowl of noodles you are cooking at home is bliss.

Needless to say, my wife and I have begun hoarding prawns.

We snip off the sharp horns on their heads and the little spikes at their tails.

Before freezing them, we pat them dry and pack them flat in bags of five to seven prawns each, making it easier to take out what we need to cook instead of dealing with 1kg of frozen prawns at cooking time.

Since we have such a surplus of this prime ingredient, I began conducting culinary experiments, and here is a delightful one you must try.

A shopper buying jumbo prawns priced at RM40 for 600g in Pulau Tikus market. — ARNOLD LOH/The Star

When you get a hold of extra large prawns, peel off the shells, tease out their black veins of fine sand by slicing lengthwise along the prawns’ dorsal tops and then cut them in half length-wise.

Thus sliced, whether you toss them into your pot of soup, pan-fry or stir-fry, these halved prawns will curl inwards and become little balls with the snow white inner sides bulging out.

Just remember that after shelling and halving, the prawns’ surface-to-mass ratio will have increased by 100%, meaning they will cook quickly.

Boiled or fried, they will be ready in 30 seconds.

Cook them any longer and the prawns will become hard and tasteless.

Because our home freezer has more prawns than anything else at the moment, I asked Universiti Sains Malaysia’s marine biologist Prof Datuk Aileen Tan about what was happening at sea.

She offered this as an explanation, “As a result of the weather – the same one drying up our lakes and dams – our rivers release lower amounts of freshwater into the sea, which consequently raises the salinity of the coastal seas.

“It is just a few percentage points in salinity but for prawns, it makes a world of a difference and they breed and grow faster.”

So for the same amount of effort, our coastal fishermen bring more prawns back to shore.

But you may not reap the benefits of buying prawns at a lower price if you eat out all the time or dwell in the Klang Valley.

Eateries will simply earn a higher profit margin to offset the months when prawns are costlier.

And those cheap jumbo prawns may never even reach Klang Valley markets because of the demand at fishermen’s jetties.

Penang folk who cook at home are fortunate because the fishermen’s jetties are less than 30 minutes by lorry from neighbourhood markets.

If you are game to experience cooking jumbo prawns, visit any local market in Tanjung Bungah, Pulau Tikus, Cecil Street, Raja Uda or even Pasar Bisik in Kuala Muda.

If you are from out-of-state, come to Penang with an ice box in your car and visit a local market on the final day of your trip.

The weather will be changing soon, but the better part of this month should still be dry and so the prawns in Penang markets will stay cheap… for now.