Our recipe for salt roasted spot prawns is by far one of the easiest spot prawn recipes you can have in your wild-caught repertoire, whether you’re new to this delicious species of crustaceans or a seasoned seafood pro. The basic premise is that you'll be roasting your spot prawns in the oven while they're tucked into a bed of salt, so it's also an incredibly fun dish to enjoy — because who doesn't love a grand reveal? All you need is a few cups of salt and a little bit of time for expertly cooked spot prawns, every time.
Salt roasting or salt baking is a simple, elemental cooking technique that effortlessly produces juicy, perfectly seasoned spot prawns. Trust culinary tradition on this one: Roasting the spot prawns in salt will not make them too salty.
As they roast, the spot prawn meat stays tender and springy. It’s a hands-off way to cook them, and nearly all the recipe’s prep time is dedicated to preheating the oven and the salt, making this cooking method as chill as a sea breeze. The only adjustments you'll need to make are for cook time, depending on the size of your spot prawns, as wild-caught spot prawns can be anywhere between thumb-sized to palm-sized.
For a single 8-ounce pack of spot prawns, you’ll need about 3 to 4 cups of salt, depending on the size of your dish, and it’s critical that you use a coarse salt. Coarse kosher salt or rock salt are both good options. Fine salt will leave your spot prawns too salty.
Note that you won’t really be able to reuse the salt for cooking, as it absorbs the aroma and excess moisture from the spot prawns as they roast, but if you’re planning to bake spot prawns again the next day, then go ahead and use the salt once more. After that, discard it.
