Prawn essence is probably one of the least appealing things to make. However, once you drizzle that on a seafood risotto or use it as part of the sauce for a crab linguine, even added to an Asian dipping sauce for seafood dumplings. Yum, you will be hooked!

Takes a little time but is super easy, and keeps for up to a month in the fridge.

Just make sure you don’t spill… prawn essence is definitely not going to be the next trend in home fragrance.

Makes about 500mls

20 prawn shells, heads, tails, everything
100ml olive oil
500ml Rice bran oil
1 tsp salt

Preheat over to 160.

Spread the prawn shells out on a baking tray and roast for about 30-40 minutes.  They should be cooked and quite dry. Crush the heads lightly to release any moisture, then roast for about 10 minutes more, being careful not to burn them.

Tip the heads into a food processor and blitz for one minute.

Tip the blitzed shells into a small pot with the oils and stir. Cook on a very low heat, 55-65C, and maintain in this range if you can for 45 minutes – this might be difficult on some stoves, but if you watch it and take the pan off the heat now and then to cool down, you will still get a good result.

Once infused, strain the oil through a fine sieve lined with muslin – most of the oil will strain through quickly, but leave it to sit and drain slowly (without forcing it) to get all the essence. Cool and store in the fridge.