Sichuan pepper and salt school prawns

Serves 4–6

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 10 mins 500g baby school prawns

1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns

2 tsp black peppercorns

½ cup (100g) rice flour

2 tbsp sea salt flakes

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying Prawn oil mayo, to serve (see note)

1. Rinse and pat dry the prawns, and snip off any overly long whiskers.

2. Dry-roast both peppercorns in a small, heavy-based frying pan over medium–low heat for 3–4 minutes or until fragrant, shaking the pan often. Cool, then transfer to a mortar (or an electric spice grinder) and pound to a coarse powder. Place half this pepper mixture with the rice flour and half the salt in a ziplock bag; toss to combine. Toss the prawns in bag to coat with flour. Combine the remaining crushed pepper with the remaining salt and set aside for serving.

3. Heat oil in a wok over a medium heat. Test that the oil is hot enough by dipping the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil; it should sizzle if the oil is hot enough.

4. Working in small batches, remove some of the prawns and shake them through a colander to remove excess flour and deep-fry quickly until golden, only a couple of minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with remaining prawns until they are all cooked. 5. Sprinkle with the extra pepper and salt mixture and serve immediately with prawn oil mayo.

Lyndey’s note: The whole point is to eat these prawns whole. Visit selectormagazine.com.au and search for our prawn oil mayo recipe.

Why this dish?

Riesling and seafood will always be fast friends. Add to such natural sympatico some spice from the peppercorns, the crunch of the prawns, and the cooling cream of the mayo, and you have a winning combination.