How To Cook Prawns for Sushi

Ever wondered how to cook prawns for sushi so that they sit flat across the rice?

Normally, when prawns are boiled they curl. But prawns used for sushi need to be straight. Here’s how to prepare sushi-ready prawns (scroll down for a step-by-step video).

You’ll need:

1 teaspoon Japanese rice vinegar
Pinch salt flakes
4 green prawns
4 bamboo skewers

Here’s how to cook prawns for sushi:

Place about 1 litre of water in a saucepan just large enough to hold the skewers across its width.
Add vinegar and salt and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, hold a prawn on its back in the palm of your hand with its head closest to you.
Carefully push a bamboo skewer through it from head to tail.
Repeat with remaining prawns and skewers.
When water is at a rolling boil, add prawns and cook for about 1½ minutes, until they just change colour.
Remove and refresh in plenty of cold water until cool.
Once prawns are completely cooled, remove head and shell. Leave tail intact for presentation if prawn will be used to top nigiri sushi, but remove it if prawn will be inside a sushi roll.
Hold prawn firmly in your hand and pull out the skewer.
Make a shallow incision along the back of each prawn and remove digestive tract.
Trim head ends (and tail ends if tails have been removed) so they look neat.

Master Sushi Chef Hideo Dekura will also teach you how to slice fish for sushi and sashimi and make sushi rice and dashi soy sauce for serving with all sorts of sushi and sashmi.