Something's Fishy about this Manicure

Funny and random things just happen in the East Valley of Phoenix, AZ. I don’t know if it’s the desert air, the spicy food, or all the sunshine, but almost daily something will happen to make me smile and think, "now that's something you don't see everyday."

Here’s a perfect example. Tuesday I got a text message from my sister Bec, who lives in Chandler, which is about 25 miles south of our house, still in the East Valley. The text says, “Productive visit to the salon. Mani, pedi, and 2 lbs. of Louisiana prawns.”

Now, I just presumed she meant that she had gotten her manicure and pedicure, and then headed to Whole Foods and gotten some shrimp for dinner. I really didn’t give it a second thought. A half hour later or so, she telephones me and asks me if I wasn’t surprised and amused by her text message. She commenced to tell me this story.

She was getting her pedicure when she noticed an increase in activity and talking amongst the nail technicians. She said it didn’t appear anything was wrong, but they were definitely excited about something. They were speaking in Vietnamese, so she couldn’t figure out what was going on. She noticed some of the technicians were leaving the building and coming back in carrying packages. A drug deal?

A few minutes later she noticed a Vietnamese man come in and begin speaking to the technicians and some of the customers. He spoke very good English. The nail technician with her explained that the man lived in Louisiana, and had driven his truck to Phoenix carrying a variety of freshly caught and frozen fish. “It’s where we all get our seafood,” she explained.

What does he offer, everyone wondered. “Well, all he has left now is squid,” answered one of the nail technicians. The man quickly spoke up and said he still had prawns in his truck. All of the non-Vietnamese customers perked up, and pretty soon Bec said everyone had a little package resting next to their shoes. Why not, she thought, and proceeded to purchase two pounds of prawns – 9-12 to a lb. – with the heads still on.

A full service salon, for sure. Manicure, pedicure and tomorrow night’s dinner.

She went home and cut off the heads of about a half pound, put the rest in the freezer, and cooked the prawns last night on the grill.

Here was how she prepared the prawns:


I put the frozen prawns in cold water for 10 minutes and then cleaned them. I took off the shells so I could remove the veins. I brushed them with a paste of garlic and crushed red peppers, and grilled them for 3 minutes, turning them over once. They were very sweet, and the garlic and pepper spiciness complemented that sweetness. Eight oz of whole shrimp were about 5 oz cooked without their shells.

Nana’s Notes: I can count. As I see it, there is still a pound-and-a-half of prawns in her freezer. Hello Sistah! And, might I add, when I go to my neighborhood nail salon, all I get is a pedicure. No dinner.