Practical Exams - Prawn Mango Salad

My submission for today's practical exams. This earned me 28 marks out of a possible total of 30.
How's that for an extra virgin chef?

Why not 30? I cheekily asked Chef. Bad move, since he started pointing out all the mistakes and for a moment there, I thought he might just deduct more points. So, here are the good and bad in this submission.

Positive:

1. Portion of greens is good. About 25g is recommended portion for one share. 

2. There are 8 prawns here, about 120g before de-shelling. Good for one.

3. Mangos are cut and arranged such that you can see sharp pointed edges. To achieve this, I brought a small plastic knife today. I placed a slice of mango - cut lengthwise - on the plate before cutting. Then with my plastic knife and the mango already on the plate, I sliced it at an angle, then slightly separate the individual pieces. What's good about this is I don't have to transfer the mango after cutting it, as that will just mess up the arrangement as I see on other plates.

4. Leaves are facing upwards invitingly, and they produce a good height.

5. Overall good with 40% clear space on plate.

Negative:

1. Avocado is sliced too big. Should be about 2/3 of this.

2. Prawn surface is kinda rough after peeling. This is a reflection of bad technique during blanching. Effective blanching is at around 63-71 degrees Celsius where prawns can be de-shelled easily. 

Are you enjoying all these superfluous technicalities? Just eat la! 

Oh, and the recipe is here again for those who want to try this. It's easy and light, healthy and delish. I love it when I can actually taste the coriander roots. Yum!