Vegan MoFo day 9 - Getting retro with a vegan prawn cocktail recipe

Generally, a new Fry's product is a reason for celebration. Or at least mild curiosity.  And spending £3.50-odd.

When my local health food store started stocking Fry's battered meat-free crispy prawns, I felt duty-bound to give them a try. I've normally found vegan fish-free stuff is a bit of a mixed bag - I really like VBites fish free fingers, but their fish-style steaks freak me out, due to the fact the steaks are a bit too close to what I remember actual fish tasted (and textured) like.

Fry's prawns are happily far enough away from being like fish that you can get them down your neck, and battered enough that you'll be able to do it with a smile on your face.

What better use to put said prawns to then that most retro of starters, the prawn cocktail? These were the staple of restaurant menus in the 1980s - Even the colours look like they should be on Dallas.

Traditionally, prawn cocktails were served with Marie Rose sauce over a bed of lettuce and for extra retro points, serve in a sundae glass. I always thought Marie Rose sauce sounded particularly elegant until, while working in a pub, the chef told me it was just tomato ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together.

While the prawn cocktail is no longer the height of culinary sophistication - and mostly lives on as a popular flavour of crisps - Fry's prawns convinced me it was in need of veganising. In true vegan style, I've added avocado to the original recipe, as well as spring onions, but the Marie Rose sauce is still the same mix as was back in the 80s.

Vegan prawn cocktail

Ingredients
One tablespoon of vegan mayonnaise
One teaspoon of ketchup
Couple of shakes of hot sauce
Shake of vegan Worcestershire sauce
Squeeze of lime juice
A few handfuls of chopped batavia lettuce
Five battered fish-style pieces
Half an avocado, cut into small dice
A spring onion, thinly sliced

How you do it
Mix mayonnaise, ketchup, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and lime juice to make Marie Rose dressing.
Arrange batavia lettuce on a plate, top with avocado and spring onion.
Cook prawns according to instructions, and put on lettuce.
Pour over dressing, and top with an extra squeeze of lime juice.