Most of us who have even the slightest yearning for a quick fix of seafood will have doubtless dived into the freezer cabinet of the local supermarket and [guiltily] made off home with a bag of scampi to quickly satiate the cravings? Now scampi comes in many guises and brands like ‘Whitby Seafoods’ produce some excellent product, but be wary; there are also some poor imitations out there waiting to turn you off eating scampi for life and leaving you totally underwhelmed with what should actually be a very classy product.

After all, these golden be-crumbed nuggets of the sea (should) start life as good old Nephrops norvegicus - (sounds like a 1980’s album title?) aka the langoustine, Dublin Bay prawn or Norway lobster, as you will. However, some unscrupulous processors will substitute these delightfully sweet indigenous ‘prawns’ for offcuts or recovered white and shellfish, pre-formed into balls of flavourless and nondescrip nothingness, which do absolute zilch to satisfy that shellfish hit that ‘real’ scampi afford.

So during the Festive Season why not simply make your own from scratch? They’re great canapé or finger food for parties or a delicious snack prior to watching the ‘Great Escape’ or whatever takes your fancy. (That dates me!)

If you do find yourself partial, then you’re best to start with the best and use premium frozen peeled langoustine tails such as the ones from Amity Fish Co in Peterhead (order online https://www.amityfish.co.uk ) You can also buy other fine Scottish seafood there and langos especially, in their many forms.

Delivered to your door from the Skipper himself!

Proper Scampi (Serves 4)

Ingredients

500g ‘Amity’ frozen peeled langoustine tails.

2 free range eggs (beaten)

Well seasoned flour for dredging (a touch of cayenne for more bite)

A quantity of homemade white breadcrumbs

500ml groundnut or rapeseed oil for shallow frying

Smoked Lemon Mayonnaise

2 free range egg yolks

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

Pinch sea salt

250 ml smoked rapeseed oil (Bennet & Dunn is fantastic)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Method

Defrost the Langos tails in cold water (not at room temp) and leave today on kitchen roll. Dredge in the seasoned flour and put aside. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan or wok to about 150C and test with some breadcrumbs.

Dip the floured tails in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs until liberally coated.

Fry the scampi now, but not too fiercely, so that the breadcrumbs end up burning - (you want to retain that lovely golden colour). Lower the heat if necessary and slowly fry them turning often (you can of course deep fry, but I prefer this method as you have more control).

When the scampi are nicely golden, test one (cooks prerogative). They should be perfectly crisp on the outside, but the tails should be moist, succulent and sweet, but cooked through.

The Mayonnaise

This is my standard base mayonnaise recipe, but using smoked rapeseed oil instead.

Incorporate the yolks with the salt and Dijon and whisk in the rapeseed oil in a steady continuous stream, until the mixture thickens and peaks. Then add the lemon juice slowly to taste. Continue to whisk and then refrigerate

Serve the scampi whilst piping hot, with dollops of the mayo and lemon wedges.