After dining out three nights in a row leading up to my birthday, Russ made me this wonderful dish from the latest issue of Fine Cooking magazine. The Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp is inspired by the garlic shrimp served from food trucks along Oahu’s North Shore — and it was a perfect summer birthday dinner to be enjoyed at home!
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 oz. (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
- Kosher salt
- 1 lb. extra-jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 per lb.), peeled, deveined, and patted dry
- 3 Tbs. grapeseed or canola oil
- 8 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup sake or dry white wine
- 1-1/2 oz. (3 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
- In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, paprika, and 1-1/2 tsp. salt. Lightly dredge the shrimp in the mixture, shaking off the excess; set aside.
- Heat a heavy-duty 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Add the oil, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove and reserve the garlic, leaving the oil in the pan.
- Turn the heat up to medium high and add the shrimp in a single layer. Cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, then flip and cook until nearly opaque in the center, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add the sake and 1/2 tsp. salt and cook, flipping the shrimp once, until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the butter and the reserved garlic, and cook, swirling the pan, until the sauce is emulsified. Remove from the heat, add the cilantro and lemon juice, and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and serve.
With the jumbo shrimp on sale for half the price of the extra-jumbo (or colossal) shrimp, we bought the slightly smaller crustaceans. Because there were more like 32 pieces, as opposed to the 16-20 count called for in the recipe, we had to cook in two batches as they didn’t all fit in the skillet at one time. And being smaller, we shortened the cooking time. In hind sight, we wished we had also increased the amount of sake (or wine) thus producing more sauce at the end. But there is no doubt we will be making this again and will be prepared to make the adjustments.
NOTE: Sauvignon Blanc makes a perfect pairing with this recipe.
Accounting for Taste 