Unheralded

CHEF JEFF: One Byte At A Time — Honey Garlic Shrimp

Do you know what is the most popular seafood in America? If you guessed salmon or halibut, two of the most delicious and nutritious fish around, you would be wrong. Ditto with crab and lobster.

Shrimp is the most popular seafood in America. In fact, it represents more than a quarter of the annual per capita seafood consumption in the United States.

While I’m a fan of all the aforementioned types of seafood, shrimp is my favorite, no matter if it’s fried, broiled, baked or grilled.

So, needless to say, I’m always on the lookout for any new ways to prepare camarones as they are called in Mexico or gamberettos as they are know in Italy.

The following recipe caught my eye recently, and I decided to give it a try.

And guess what? I still haven’t found a shrimp recipe that’s disappointed me!

Honey Garlic Shrimp
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice (or juice of half a lemon)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
21 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined (tail on or off)
Salt to season
Lemon wedges (to serve)
Fresh chopped parsley, to serve
Heat butter in a nonstick pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Melt, swirling pan and stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes, or until the foam settles; the butter begins to change in color to golden brown and has a nutty fragrance. Add the honey, lemon juice, soy sauce and garlic; stir well to combine all of the flavors together and cook for 30 seconds until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat. Pour out just over half of the browned butter from the pan (liquid only), leaving 2 tablespoons of the honey butter mixture in the pan, and reserve the rest for later.
Add half of the shrimp to the honey/butter in the pan; sear for about 2 minutes each side, or until just cooked through and no longer opaque. Transfer to a plate; set aside.
Wipe pan over with paper towel and add 2 more tablespoons of the honey/butter mixture to the pan. (You may need to add 1 teaspoon of olive oil or extra butter to the pan if your sauce has thickened too much.) Sear the remaining shrimp for 2 minutes each side, or until just cooked through and no longer opaque.
Add the cooked shrimp back into the pan, and pour in the remaining honey/butter sauce; stirring through the shrimp to evenly coat. Season with salt if desired and garnish with parsley.
Serve with steamed vegetables; over rice.





Leave a Reply