big ones, 20 secs each side, shells on, in hot butter, garlic, bit of sugar, salt, pepper and pinch of chilli flakes, good shot of rum and let the flames do the business, squirt of lemon, hot fresh buttered crusty bread for the juices, cold beer, good book Bliss
prawns need very little cooking in fact if they are the pink kind then they are already cooked and only need reheating which takes just a couple of minites prepare the rest of the dish eg the sauce for pasta or curry and stick them in two minites from the end to warm through any longer and they will become very rubbery. raw prawns are blueish but still need only about five minites cooking the principle is the same as for cooked prawns they are done when they have turned pink. remember do not reheat prawns bought cooked after cooking as you have already reheated them once and it is not advisable to reheat anything more than once.