- Happy Friday everybody.
Now, today we ask ourselves the age-old question,
is bigger better?
- And this isn't just a look into Barry's thoughts.
We're actually gonna be taste testing prawns,
five different sizes of prawns,
to see if bigger really does mean better.
Ready for number one? - Yeah.
- Starting small. - Please.
- It's not as small as I thought we'd start.
- Ooh, these are already impressive.
I was expecting like-
- I was, oh yeah, I was expecting we were gonna-
- Prawn cocktail prawns.
- Yeah, exactly. - Yeah, head off.
Open up the bottom. - Yeah.
- I mean one of my favourite seaside snacks
is a pint of prawns.
(gasps) - A pint of prawns.
- You know what I mean? - Yes.
- Is that a very British thing?
It must be. - It might be, yeah.
Well, in Germany, do you get a stein of prawns?
- I don't know. - I don't know.
- Yeah, so basically you go to the seaside
and they bring you-
(music cuts out)
(Jamie laughs)
A pint of prawns.
Cheers. - Cheers.
- Meaty, sweet.
- The two words that I had that came to mind, as well.
- And these have all been cooked at, was it 53 degrees?
- These have all been cooked at 53 degrees
because the food team says that that's the ideal
optimum temperature to cook proteins
- [Mike] Suck the head.
- I'm not sucking the head.
- [Mike] Yeah, you have to.
Kush said.
(Jamie slurps)
- [Ben] It's where all the good flavour is!
- That tastes more like a prawn
than any prawn you've ever had.
- Exactly, 'cause it's his brains.
- Yes. Yeah.
(both laugh)
Suck his head.
(both laugh)
- No. - Yeah.
(Barry slurps)
It's all the goodness.
- Oh, it's really fishy, isn't it?
- Really fish.
- And I can imagine how that works
with the stocks and so on,
but I'm after the sweet meatiness of a prawn,
not the fishiness of it.
- These are the Penaeus vannamei prawns,
which are farmed in Ecuador.
- Ooh.
Subtle favour suited to bolder dishes
with heavy flavours, seasonings, and aromats.
- Because, yeah, you're not, unless you're sucking the head,
you're not getting a massive prawn flavour.
- [Barry] No.
- It's a nice addition to a dish
rather than something to enjoy on its own.
- Mm-hmm.
Size-wise, I was expecting
how many centimetres long they are.
- [Jamie] Yes.
- But it's measured by how many you get per kilo.
So you get 40 to 60 of these in a kilo.
- That is an unusual way of doing it.
But again, at this size, they're not daunting.
They're super easy to cook,
be either steamed, boiled, fried, anything, really.
- [Barry] Yeah.
- [Barry] Gonna take no time at all.
- Now we know that this is the smallest.
Shall we move up the scales?
- How big are we gonna get?
- I saw Kush with something over his shoulder earlier.
Number two, do the honours.
- Yeah, we're going up.
- Going up. Ooh.
- Oh, not much bigger.
- [Jamie] Firmer.
- [Barry] I imagine this in a paella.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
- Far more of a bite to that one.
- Round one just tasted of prawn.
This tastes of more tender.
- [Jamie] Yeah.
- And it is packing more sweetness, as well, in it.
- Yeah. - It tastes more wild.
- Oh. - As well.
Tastes like it's been working harder.
- So these are Penaeus,
which is the same word as the one before,
which I'm guessing means that Penaeus is like-
- Same species. - Prawn.
- Penaeus monodon, which are farmed
and come from Bangladesh.
These are our medium ones.
You get 21 to 30 of these in a kilogramme,
whereas previously we were getting 40 to 60.
- [Barry] 40 to 60.
- So these are twice as big.
- Really? Okay, wow.
- So, sweet tasting yet less intense flavour
than other larger prawns.
- Hmm.
(Jamie mumbles)
- Best as part of a wider dish.
Stir fries and pastas, et cetera.
Good for fillings in dishes such as dumplings
due to the pliability.
- They're stretchy. - Quite. They do yoga.
(Barry laughs)
Prawnlates.
- Prawnlates. - Yeah.
Their slightly milder flavour
Flavour allows for seasonings and aromatics.
- They're definitely more meaty than the last ones.
- Yes. - 'Cause there's more meat.
- Smaller prawns tend to be considered sweeter
and more tender. - Hmm.
- Whereas the older, bigger shrimp
can be a little bit tougher.
Smaller prawns are often overcooked.
I'd 100% agree with that.
Little bullets. - Yeah.
- Is how they can feel, the texture of them just-
- Yeah. - Yeah.
So far not too much difference.
- Nope. - Between the first two.
And if I was gonna go out my way to buy decent prawns,
I'd be happy with either of them.
- For me flavor-wise, very similar.
It's about how much meat you are getting from it.
If you don't mind deshelling and sucking the head,
lots and lots of times, the small ones are fine.
But if you wanna do that less and eat more,
bigger are better?
- Do less, eat more, suck bigger.
- No!
- Should we do the third one?
(Jamie claps)
Number three. - Bring it.
- Right, ready?
- [Barry] Yeah.
- Whoa!
- Okay, we're jumping up here.
- We're definitely jumping up here.
- What would you call these straight away?
- Prawns.
- [Barry] Are they bigger than kings?
- Oh, Charles has gotta be about six foot one?
- Right. Okay.
Brilliant. Right.
I'm already a little bit daunted
by the head juice in this one.
- Strip it.
(Jamie slurps)
(Barry laughs)
Ow.
Oh, that is, ugh, yeah.
- Very fishy.
That's not a thing.
Don't do that.
Put it in a soup.
This is a tougher shell to get into.
Here these are the ones where you go, you get three.
Three on a plate. - Three on a plate.
- And you have to treasure every mouthful
'cause you've paid a fortune for this plate.
Okay, cheers.
Oh, this is gonna be special.
Wow.
- That's got a real pull to it.
- We're moving a little bit into lobster territory here.
- I know what... That's more of a lobster texture.
- Yeah. It's got some flavour.
More of the sea, as well.
- Yeah.
- 'Cause there's more body there to absorb some of the-
- [Jamie] Sea water?
- I guess the natural seasoning?
(laughs) - Yeah.
When we sucked the head and got the head juice out,
that was such an intense flavour that on its own,
I don't think I liked it.
But you can just see how that would impart flavour
into stocks and stews and things.
- Yeah, the others you can imagine
amazing butters or sauces,
whereas this kind of like, it stands on its own as a flavour.
- Mm, yeah.
Oh, I don't know, though.
(speaking foreign language)
- You all right?
- Yeah. (speaking foreign language)
(Barry laughs)
- Garlic. - Garlic.
- Garlic, yeah.
- Okay, that got me a little bit.
(Jamie speaking foreign language)
- What I would say is these are not amateur prawns anymore.
This is, we're moving into the professional stuff.
(Barry laughs)
- We're the large category now.
13 to 15 prawns per kilo.
- [Jamie] That's not many, is it?
- [Barry] That's not many.
Okay, straight away, sweet tasting with a crunch.
- [Jamie] Yes.
- Got that. - Yeah.
- Big enough to withstand oven roasting.
Interesting, 'cause otherwise, yeah,
I hadn't even considered oven roasting being a thing.
- These are called Litopenaeus vannamei,
and they're farmed from Sri Lanka.
- [Barry] Okay.
- I really like this 'cause I think you're getting
to the stage where that's gonna really impress someone
if you serve those up,
and it doesn't just look good,
but it follows through with a lovely texture
and a really great taste.
- Size-wise, I'm still comfortable here.
I feel like I know what to do with that.
Happy to boil it, happy to steam it,
happy to fry it, now apparently roast it.
- That's interesting.
- Any bigger, I'm getting a little bit daunted.
- I'm still quite comfortable, if I'm honest, Baz.
- Right, okay, next one.
(Jamie laughs)
- Ready for more prawn?
- Is it, can we get much bigger?
(Jamie laughs)
- Let's find out.
Well, turns out yes we can.
- I'm daunted.
I don't know what to do with that.
- So these are Penaeus monodon.
Oh, it's the same with the mediums.
From India.
- Okay. - Farmed in India.
- The thing I find strange with crustaceans,
the smaller prawns, it's amazing how desensitised you get
to just ripping a head off and opening its body up.
- That's a good point.
- The bigger they get,
the more aware you are of what you're doing.
Also you have to admire, this guy has a little hairdo.
- He has, he's got a little sword.
He's like a mini swordfish.
- Yeah.
- Oh, it's well done.
I'm not sucking that head, look at that.
(Jamie laughs)
- So apparently these prawns, you can buy it as a block,
so therefore they don't come individually frozen.
They come as one big block.
So you have to defrost them all.
That's so they are easier to transport
or they don't get damaged in transportation
when they get moved.
- The shell on this is much, much harder to peel.
- Also, bearing in mind these were all cooked
at the same temperature,
I'd say that the flesh is probably more delicate, as well.
Cheers. - Cheers.
- Yeah, mine's a really fresh, creamy texture.
- Yeah.
The bite that you need to be able to get it away is massive
and yet it's a much creamier texture.
- I do like lobster,
but I've never really understood
why they're so much better than a prawn.
That to me is as good.
- [Jamie] Right, these are the XLs.
You get six to eight of them to a kilo.
- Right. - Okay?
It's not many at all.
A good all-rounder.
Slightly sweet flavour.
More of a crunchy texture.
- Mm-hmm. - We agree with that.
I feel like this is now the size where I want
something else with it.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
- Eating it on its own feels a bit odd to me.
The biggest shrimp are best for roasting and grilling.
Large prawns are also good for prawn cocktails, salads.
(speaking foreign language)
(Barry speaking foreign language)
Medium prawns are good for pasta, rice,
and stir fries and dumplings,
whilst the smallest are said to be best for soups,
stews, and sandwiches.
But it depends on how big your sandwich is.
Go for a bigger sandwich.
Have some bigger prawns.
- We got one more round to go.
- One more round to go.
- How can we get bigger than XL?
- Oh, God.
- [Barry] Do it together.
- Okay, three, two, one.
(Jamie laughs)
- No way.
That's the size of my cat.
- The eyes look like blueberries.
- Do we, how is it,
what's the best way of taking the head off now?
Christmas cracker it?
- Christmas cracker.
(Barry laughs)
- I'll tell you what,
I'll read out some facts while you prepare it for me.
This is the XXL category.
Three or four per kilo.
- [Mike] Do it.
- Give it a suck. - I am not sucking that.
(Jamie laughs)
No way in hell.
So it's got natural, sweet/savory flavours.
The best for grilling as they can withstand open flames
and higher temperatures without burning.
Decadent and a statement due to cost.
- Massive statement.
I'm really intimidated by that.
- You are? - Yeah.
- So it's luck of the draw, isn't it really?
If you get, if you're getting,
this time we've got a massive load of roe in there
and not much intestines.
Now this is some of the intestinal tract,
which I guess is a lot more important to get out
of a big one because it's about the size of a small prawn.
It's probably the fiddliest of all of them.
I'd say as we've got bigger,
they've got less fiddly until we get to this level
where there's a lot more prep around it.
- We're not Lady and the Tramping it.
(Barry laughs)
Don't look at me like that.
We're not Lady and the Tramping it.
- Shouldn't we? - No we're not, no!
- Just eat it.
(Barry laughs)
I can't not, can I? Sorry.
(Mike laughs)
- Whoa.
- Holy moly.
- It's a bit chewy. - Mm-hmm.
- Much chewier than the last ones that we've had.
Flavor-wise, I don't actually think I like it.
- Wow, okay.
- I think that's quite a bit more bitter
than the previous ones.
Maybe it's because I had the head end
and it was a bit more the fishy, seawatery side.
I don't know if that's the prawn for me.
- The extra large were a lot more creamy.
It cuts nicer, as well,
and didn't leave stringy bits in your mouth.
- [Jamie] So this is Penaeus monodon again.
It's the third one that we've had from India.
But this is wild.
So this hasn't been farmed.
- [Barry] The first wild one.
- [Jamie] First wild one.
- [Barry] Wow, okay.
- [Jamie] So maybe that explains more of the flavour.
- [Barry] Also it means it must be flipping expensive.
- Yeah, because you have to find,
well, they're not that hard to find,
'cause look how big that is.
(Barry laughs)
- What's strange for me is as they get bigger,
the flavour remains.
It's not diluted at all.
But what also kinda contradicts that
is the fact that as they get bigger,
you've got more room to get more flavours in there
and take away from the prawniness of it.
- Which is weird because sometimes you feel like
you wouldn't want to do that because you've spent all
of this money on the biggest prawn that you've ever seen.
Let's celebrate that in the best way that we possibly can.
- Don't cover it up, exactly.
- Versus these are small ones.
Let's add a load of flavour into them
and fill it out with lots of other things.
- For me it's down to,
I love the process of deshelling a prawn,
and it's about how fiddly that process is
for the reward you get at the end.
- Yes. Yeah.
- I like the process.
I like having a handful of prawns
that I can kind of fiddle my way through.
- Yeah.
So the last talking point on here is that the bigger prawns
do generally taste more iodiny,
which makes sense.
- Yeah, again, look at our hands.
- Yeah.
- But also they've got this metallicy kind of finish
that isn't very pleasant.
- [Jamie] No, I know what you mean.
- That's a real shame 'cause everything up till now
was leaning towards bigger might be better.
- Right, whilst we discuss whether we think
bigger is better,
the food team have prepared us some prawn crepes
from our Sidekick app using-
(Jamie and Barry make satisfied noises)
Using the smallest prawns that we tried today,
which are generally actually the biggest prawns
that you can buy in the supermarket.
- Oh, these are incredible. - Fantastic.
- I love these ones.
The small prawns, these ones here,
I'd still classify those as large
- Yeah, so would I.
- 'Cause small to me are the tiny little ones you get.
But we couldn't do those today
because you can't buy those raw?
- No, they're already cooked generally on the ship.
- Yeah.
- So they get fished, cooked, frozen on the ship,
and then delivered to you frozen through a supermarket.
(laid-back music)
(Barry and Jamie making satisfied noises)
That's spectacular.
- Yeah, and I needed more prawns.
(Jamie laughs)
- Right, my favourite, number three.
- Three if I was cooking at home,
but if I'm eating out that someone's cooking it for me,
I think I could take a four.
- You could take a four?
(both laugh)
Well, I think we are in agreement
that bigger is better to a point,
but Barry could go bigger than I could.
(Barry laughs)
And I think we're all surprised to hear that.
- But it's over to you guys.
Comment down below and let us know
what was your preferred size prawn?
- And while you're down there,
let us know what ingredient we should be looking at next
to discover whether bigger is better.