Camarão ao AlhoPortuguese Garlic Prawns

Camarão ao alho is prawns cooked fast in olive oil, butter and lots of garlic, finished with white wine, piri-piri and coriander. It's one of the most ordered petiscos in Algarve beach bars, brought to the table still sizzling in a clay dish with bread for the sauce.

Two things make it. The pan must be very hot so the prawns sear in about 2 minutes a side instead of stewing. And the garlic goes in sliced, not crushed, so it turns golden without burning.

The recipe

Camarão ao AlhoPortuguese Garlic Prawns

Camarão ao alho, the Algarve petisco: prawns sizzled in olive oil, butter, garlic, white wine and piri-piri, ready in under 20 minutes. Bread essential.

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Prep10 min

Cook8 min

Total18 min

Serves4

Ingredients

MetricUS

Serves

4

½×1×2×3×

• 600 g large raw prawns, shell on or peeled with tails left on
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 30 g butter
• 1–2 fresh or dried piri-piri chillies, chopped, or 1 tsp piri-piri sauce
• 80 ml dry white wine (or a splash of beer)
• 1 bay leaf
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 small bunch coriander or parsley, chopped
• Coarse salt
• Crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Rinse the prawns and pat them very dry with kitchen paper. If peeled, run a knife down the back and pull out the dark vein. Season with a little coarse salt.
2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a wide frying pan or clay dish over medium heat. Add the garlic, chilli and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute, until the garlic just starts to colour.
3. Turn the heat to high and add the prawns in a single layer. Cook for 1½–2 minutes, until pink underneath, then turn them.
4. Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 1–2 minutes, shaking the pan, until the prawns are pink all over and the sauce has reduced a little.
5. Take off the heat, squeeze over the lemon, scatter with coriander and serve straight away in the pan.

Notes

Clear ticks

Tap ingredients and steps to tick them off. Scaling changes the quantities at the start of each line; check the rest by eye.

Shell on or peeled?

Portuguese bars usually serve them shell on, often with the heads, because the shells and heads add flavour to the sauce. You peel them at the table and mop up with bread. Peeled prawns with tails left on are easier for guests and still very good. Frozen raw prawns work well if thawed in the fridge and dried thoroughly.

How to serve it

As a petisco, put the dish in the middle of the table with bread and a cold beer or a glass of Vinho Verde. It also makes a quick main over plain rice. For a full spread, add amêijoas à Bulhão Pato, salada de polvo and chouriço assado; our petiscos night guide has the rest.

From the shop

What you’ll need

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Portuguese

Hand-painted Portuguese clay cazuela

A hand-painted terracotta pot from a Portuguese pottery, for rice dishes, stews and serving.

Tip: Check the listing for stovetop use, and use a heat diffuser.

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Amazon best seller

Lodge 12-inch cast iron skillet

One of Amazon's best-selling pans. Gets hot enough to sear bitoque steaks and blister sardines.

Tip: Season it and it lasts forever.

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Portuguese

Piri-piri chillies from Portugal

Whole dried bird's-eye chillies, the heat behind frango piri-piri and the bottle of chilli oil on every Portuguese table.

Tip: Two packs last a year. Crush them as you need them.

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