Easter Prawn Platter: How to Buy, Prepare, and Serve King Prawns

TL;DR — Buy cooked king prawns for a cold platter, raw if you're grilling. Allow 1.5 kg whole prawns for 6 people as a starter. Keep them on deep crushed ice and they'll stay safe and cold for 2 hours on a warm Easter day.

---

Cooked vs. Raw: Which to Buy

For a cold Easter platter, buy already-cooked king prawns. They've been cooked at sea or at the processing facility, chilled immediately, and are ready to peel and eat. The texture is firm, the flavour is clean, and there's nothing to cook on the day. This is how most Gold Coast Easter platters are built.

If you're grilling, buy raw. Raw king prawns on the shell, brushed with olive oil and garlic and cooked over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side, have more flavour than anything that's been pre-cooked and reheated. The shell chars slightly and bastes the flesh from the outside.

Do not buy frozen imported prawns when fresh Australian king prawns are available at Easter. The texture difference — particularly in cooked prawns — is significant.

How Much to Buy

For a cold platter as a starter, allow 250g of whole cooked prawns per person. For a group of 6, that's 1.5 kg. For a main course or if prawns are the centrepiece, allow 400g per person. These are whole weights including heads and shells; the edible yield is roughly 40 to 45% of the whole weight.

For an Easter Saturday gathering of 8 people where the prawn platter is one of several items, 2 kg of whole cooked king prawns is the right quantity.

How to Peel and Devein

Hold the prawn with the head toward you. Grasp the head firmly and twist — it comes off with one clean pull. Peel the shell from the body starting at the legs, working from the head end toward the tail. Leave the tail segment on; it gives guests something to hold and looks better on the platter.

Make a shallow cut along the back of the prawn with a small sharp knife, running from just below where the head was to just above the tail. Lift out the dark intestinal vein with the tip of the knife. It pulls out in one piece on a fresh prawn. Rinse briefly under cold water and transfer to a bowl over ice.

If you're doing more than 2 kg, ask Tasman Star to devein them for you. We do it on the spot.

The Cocktail Sauce

The ratio that works: 3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup, 3 tablespoons of good mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon of prepared horseradish, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, the juice of half a lemon, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir together, taste, adjust. This keeps in the fridge for 3 days and improves overnight.

For a Marie Rose variant, increase the mayo to 4 tablespoons, reduce the ketchup to 2, and add a teaspoon of brandy. It's richer and more traditional — correct for a formal Easter table, good alongside smoked salmon.

Make both. Put them in small ramekins on the platter. People will use both.

Keeping Prawns Cold on a Warm Easter Day

April on the Gold Coast sits around 25 to 28°C AEST. Cooked prawns at room temperature begin to deteriorate after 2 hours. In direct sun, that window is shorter.

Line your serving platter with at least 3 cm of crushed ice. Place a layer of cos lettuce leaves over the ice so the prawns aren't sitting in meltwater. Arrange the prawns tails-outward in a circular pattern on the lettuce, stacking slightly toward the centre. Keep a backup bag of crushed ice in an esky and top up the platter every hour. If you're setting up outside, position the table in shade.

Bring prawns out in batches if you're serving over more than 90 minutes rather than putting everything out at once.

Order from Tasman Star

King prawns are available at Labrador (5–7 Olsen Ave) and Varsity Lakes (20 Casua Dr). For Easter, place your order by Wednesday to secure your preferred quantity. Browse our prawn range online or call ahead — we prepare prawns to order and can have them ready for pickup on Good Friday morning.