Spot prawn recipe: Jonathan Chovancek shows his favourite way to prepare the delicacy

Vancouver's Spot Prawn Festival is celebrating its ninth year of launching the fishing season for the popular local ingredient.

Hosted by the Chefs' Table Society, the festival's main event is the giant seafood boil where loads of fresh-off-the-boat spot prawns are boiled and served.

"The popularity of the spot prawn has exploded in the past decade," said society vice-president and veteran chef Jonathan Chovancek.

"But whenever things get popular you worry about populations."

Although the Spot Prawn Festival is their most well-known event, the Chef's Table Society is also dedicated to supporting other sustainable and local ingredients.

Currently spot prawn stocks are carefully managed to keep populations stable with limits on the number of vessels and traps that can operate off the coast.

"We as professionals are always talking to scientists," said Chovancek. "We are looking at how the stocks are being managed.

"While spot prawns are designated as being sustainable, we will serve as many as we can to people who enjoy them."

The spot prawn season lasts six to eight weeks and 2,450 metric tonnes are harvested off the coast of B.C. every year. The ingredient is extremely popular in Japan and the rest of East Asia. Ninety per cent of B.C.'s catch is exported to East Asia where the delicacy is known for its delicate taste and firm texture.

"It's got almost a cucumber-like texture in that it's crunchy yet succulent," Chovancek explained.

"And they are absolutely gorgeous."

Watch the video: Spot prawn season is on!