Chopped egg and prawn salad with anchovy

Starter: serves 4. Total time: 10 minutes

Simon Hopkinson
Wednesday 02 May 2001 00:00 BST
Comments

"Squat lobster tails" are absolutely bang on for this collation. You may, of course, use prawns as originally stated.

200g drained (and lightly squeezed of excess moisture) squat lobstertails or prawns
4 small hard-boiled eggs, shelled
8 anchovy fillets, chopped
a spoonful or two of mayonnaise
a few shakes of Tabasco
a little salt for the dressing
1 hard-boiled egg yolk
1-2tsp malt vinegar
1-2tsp English mustard powder
1-2tsp soft brown sugar
100-150ml whipping cream
salt and white pepper

To garnish:

Coarsely hand-chop the rock lobster tails/prawns and eggs together on a chopping board (a food-processor will reduce them to a paste in no time) and put in a bowl. Add the anchovies and stir in just enough mayonnaise to bind the mixture. Stir in the Tabasco and check for salt.

To make the dressing, I suggest that you employ the use of your own personal taste buds, the immovable egg yolk excepted. Mash the yolk in a small bowl using a fork or small whisk until well broken up. Now add just a little each of the vinegar, mustard and sugar and whisk together until smooth. Introduce some of the cream and a little seasoning and then taste it; the end result should be a good balance of sweet and sour. Play around with all of these until you are happy with the result. What fun! At the same time, however, don't forget to make enough.

Pile the prawn and egg mixture into the lettuce leaves and put on plates. Garnish with the other salad bits and hand the dressing at table.

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