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Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: norvegicusbass on March 14, 2014, 09:24 PM

Title: What are these?
Post by: norvegicusbass on March 14, 2014, 09:24 PM
When I order king prawn from my local ( and wonderful ) Indian takeaway they are HUGE! Chunky and very meaty. When I buy king prawns from the supermarket in my endeavours to make my own BIR curry they are a lot smaller and taste nothing like the king prawns from the takeaway. Why is this? Are they not real king prawns from the takeaway? If not what are they and where can I get them? Truly they must be five times the size of the ones from the supermarket.
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Micky Tikka on March 14, 2014, 09:34 PM
sounds like a Lobster curry to me
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Gav Iscon on March 14, 2014, 09:37 PM
Not being funny but they're not those big crab stick king prawns thingy's by any chance?
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: norvegicusbass on March 14, 2014, 09:39 PM
sounds like a Lobster curry to me

I am sure Michael they would label it as such if that were the case and probably charge far more. The king prawns do though seem about that size and dont have the typical prawn shape. They are lovely and I am sure that my curries would taste a whole lot better if I could get some of them in place of the water filled prawns I usually have to use.
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: norvegicusbass on March 14, 2014, 09:42 PM
Not being funny but they're not those big crab stick king prawns thingy's by any chance?

They seem high quality and very chunky almost like what Michael had said regards lobster. The king prawns from the supermarket seem to ( I know this sounds disgusting ) pop when you bite into them as though they were little bags of water. The takeaway ones are more meaty and substantial. I would ask them at the takeaway but I am far too shy
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Micky Tikka on March 14, 2014, 09:58 PM
Sorry me being silly
Its the way they cut the prawns
sort of butterfly them
makes them look bigger when cooked
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: chewytikka on March 14, 2014, 10:59 PM
Hi
The King Prawns they use in a restaurant are usually Bengali fresh water 6
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Invisible Mike on March 14, 2014, 11:41 PM
I was in my nearest Wing Yip supermarket the other day buying a wok and I noticed they had some HUGE prawns in the freezer. I suppose any oriental supermarket could potentially sell a similar product. May be worth you looking into perhaps?
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on March 15, 2014, 12:32 AM
Wing Yip, See Woo, etc., all carry these giant prawns, but I wouldn't go so far as to say "any oriental supermarket".  Any oriental cash-and-carry, maybe.  The numbering indicates the approximate number of prawns to the kilogramme, so the smaller the number the larger the prawn.

** Phil.
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: prawnsalad on March 15, 2014, 12:32 AM
When I order king prawn from my local ( and wonderful ) Indian takeaway they are HUGE! Chunky and very meaty. When I buy king prawns from the supermarket in my endeavours to make my own BIR curry they are a lot smaller and taste nothing like the king prawns from the takeaway. Why is this? Are they not real king prawns from the takeaway? If not what are they and where can I get them? Truly they must be five times the size of the ones from the supermarket.

I asked the very same question to my local TA owner some time ago. He said they use U5 prawns (under 5 per pound.) Other than that they are just cut for effect.
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Gav Iscon on March 15, 2014, 01:01 AM
.... The numbering indicates the approximate number of prawns to the kilogramme, so the smaller the number the larger the prawn.

** Phil.

Are they not per pound like sausages?
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on March 15, 2014, 07:10 AM
Are they not per pound like sausages?

Mr ChefQuick (http://www.chefquick.co.uk/a-guide-to-buying-fish/) him say "no", him say "per kg".  And I don't think Mr See Woo has any idea what a pound is ...
** Phil.
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: munchiez on March 15, 2014, 09:36 AM
The better Chinese takeaways around here use the prawns I think you're after, I bought some recently from the freezer section of an Oriental supermarket in Huddersfield.

They were 9 quid a pack which seemed expensive at the time, but by weight they were still better value than the supermarket "king" prawns which are virtually like shrimp sometimes. These ones were about the size of a fat thumb, butterflied and had a very different flavour, really tasty with a nice meaty crunch that I've never had from a supermarket prawn.

Try your nearest Chinese supermarket, I'm sure they'll have them, if not you can probably order them online easily enough nowadays.
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Gav Iscon on March 15, 2014, 08:26 PM

Mr ChefQuick (http://www.chefquick.co.uk/a-guide-to-buying-fish/) him say "no", him say "per kg".  And I don't think Mr See Woo has any idea what a pound is ...
** Phil.

Ah I see, well that will explain why my 50 bags of 26/32 PDQ prawns 1kg (800gms net) that I used to buy on a regular basis contained approximately 53 prawns per bag.  ;)
Title: Re: What are these?
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on March 15, 2014, 08:34 PM
Yep, you woz conned :)
** Phil.