A seafood expert shares how to choose the best prawns this summer, and bigger is not always better

Do you know the difference between a king and tiger prawn? How about the best way to use school prawns?

Seafood expert Alex Stollznow, tour guide at Sydney Fish Market, is sharing his wisdom to help Aussie families get the perfect prawn for their price range this Christmas.

Given that Christmas falls smack bang in the Aussie summer, prawns and salads make the perfect fare for Christmas lunch when you definitely don’t feel like sitting in a hot kitchen downing a roast!

Alex Stollznow knows that and is here to help us get the best prawns on our tables this summer. Particularly if you are a seafood amatuer.

“It’s coming up to Christmas which means it’s the peak time in Australia to buy and eat prawns,” the seafood expert shared on TikTok (you can watch the video above).

“This is for people who like eating prawns, but get bewildered when it comes to being confronted by the sheer amount of options of cooked, raw, and farmed at the shops,” he added.

“Most people just buy prawns and then just hope that it’s nice – but I’ll show you how to pick out the best kind for the occasion.”

School prawns are the cheapest and smallest prawn, but don’t count them out, they are a great little prawn to fry. You can expect to pay between $14-20 per kilogram, making them an affordable option for feeding a lot of people.

“You can boil them and peel them and eat them like a little cocktail prawn,’ Alex said. “Wash them with egg white, potato starch, salt – and then flash fry them for 30 seconds at 200C and you can eat them like pop corn.”

If you like your prawns sweet and flavourful, school prawns are the one to go for.

“An important rule of thumb to remember is the smaller the prawn, the sweeter the taste,” reminded Alex.

Australia’s most popular prawns, wild king prawns retail for around $35-50 per kilogram. When it comes to taste, that all depends on what they;ve been eating and the salinity of the water they’ve come from. They work great for salads and pastas – you can see some great ways to serve prawns in the gallery below.

“Green King Prawns will often be frozen in advance of Christmas to account for demand, then gently thawed to perfection right before sale,” advises the tour guide.

“If you’re buying green, you’ve got about 48-72 hours to enjoy them. Cooked King Prawns are boiled on board the ships they are caught, and thus have a slightly longer shelf life, at 3-5 days.”

Go for the medium-sized prawns

When it comes to Tiger prawns, the farmed variety have a stronger flavour than wild prawns.

At around $40-60 per kilogram, they’ll be the most expensive prawn you’ll come across.

“You have to pay a premium for aesthetics – and even though you can’t taste looks, about $15/kg is for looks alone when it comes to farmed tiger prawns,” advises Alex.

“They’re ideal for dishes that need to pack in more flavour, such as rice paper rolls.”

When it comes to prawns, size does matter.

Alex advises: “Although the money is in the big prawns and you will see them up to 400g – they’re dry, they’re bland, they’re not very special.”

“The best prawns are medium-sized,” he added. “No matter the species, medium-sized prawns give you the balance of tenderness and sweetness and juiciness.”

And according to the expert, they’ll be “more accessible” as they tend to make up the bulk of a catch.

10 delicious prawn recipes for your table this summer