#ewew cooks Chargrilled Asparagus with Prawns

I love asparagus but it's a dish I don't normally order when I eat out or cook often at home coz we all know how expensive asparagus can be.

And when you cook something as posh as asparagus, you need to pair it with something equally superior like scallops or prawns.  So, I got me some large prawns for this Chargrilled Asparagus with Prawns dish.  When you have quality ingredients, you don't need to do much to it, just keep it simple and the dish will still shine.

I've seen different thickness of asparagus being sold at Aeon from small (thin), medium to large (thick) ones. I've eaten the thin ones before but found them to be rather stringy.  The thick ones are too expensive, they cost around RM20 a packet.  One day, I noticed these Thai green asparagus at RM13.50 (that I've never bought before) and they looked like they were of medium thickness, so I got myself a packet.

Ingredients:

10 large prawns, shelled, deveined & slit at the back
1 pkt of asparagus (about 20 sticks)

1/4 of an onion, finely minced

Marinade for prawns:
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp (freshly cracked) black pepper
1/4 tsp mixed herbs
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil

Preparation:

Deshell and devein the prawns by making a slit down the back of the prawn.  Toss the prawns thoroughly in the marinade and let it sit in the fridge (for at least half an hour) or until you're ready to cook them.

Wash the asparagus and dry them thoroughly.  I trimmed an inch off the bottom of the stalk (coz that's the length that can fit into my widest stir-fry pan...kekeke!).

Method:

Drizzle in a good glug of olive oil and let the asparagus sear on medium-high heat.  Cook until you get nice grill marks on them (keep tossing and turning the asparagus sticks to distribute the charring).  Season with 1/4 tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper.  Remove the asparagus onto a plate.

Add a bit more olive oil and put the chopped onions into a pan on medium-low heat.  Sweat the onions until translucent before adding the prawns.  As the prawns cook, the onions and garlic will continue to caramelise into fragrant bits.  Sear the prawns till they're nicely browned.  Dish them up on top of the asparagus and serve.

That's it....Chargrilled Asparagus with Prawns.....done!

When you have fresh, premium ingredients like large prawns and thick asparagus, you don't need to do much with them.

Just simply chargrill them both to perfection! ^o^

The charred asparagus were nicely soft yet retained a bit of that crunchiness that I want.  If you get sufficiently thick ones (like these), you'd get this burst of juices when you bite into them....so good! ^.^

The prawns were even better, nicely seared and browned, revealing a fresh and firm bite with lots of flavour from the marinade.  The caramelised onions and garlic (those are the yummy bits) lent even more flavour and fragrance to the prawns.

There's no two ways about it.  When you want to cook a decadent dish like this, you have to go all out and get the big prawns...smallish prawns just won't do! :P  These prawns cost me RM20 (yes, that's RM2 a prawn). That's why it's better to cook it myself.  Can you imagine how much this dish will cost outside?

This dish is quite versatile in the sense that you can serve it Chinese-style (with plain rice) or western-style by presenting them as a starter, in a smaller portion, of course.  Well, if you're feeling a bit extravagant one day, why not splurge on this decadent dish and give it a go...simple in execution, delicious to eat! ;)