Friday, August 15, 2008

Turning Barbecued Shrimp Outside In

One thing that took some getting used to after moving to San Francisco was the summer rain. There isn't any. From June to late fall, besides the very occasional light drizzle, it just doesn't rain…at all. We get dew, fog, wind, mist, and dark clouds, but never any of those thundering downpours that the rest of the country gets on a regular basis.

Where I grew up, in western New York, whether you were planning a game of golf, or getting friends together to grill some shrimp, dodging the rain was always part of the deal. I'm sure most of you can relate - the shrimp are thawed, the potato salad is made, and it begins raining so hard the neighborhood pets start to pair up. Next time that h
appens try this unbelievably easy, and fast, indoor barbecue shrimp recipe.

This recipe will work with peeled shrimp, but the "ready to peel" raw shrimp called for in the recipe will allow you to really get that char-grilled look without worrying about dry shrimp. The other thing I love about this recipe, besides the simulated barbecue effect, is the fact a batch only takes about 6-7 minutes to cook, so you can do multiple batches in between complaining about the weather. Wet enough for 'ya? Enjoy!



1 pound (16-20 per lb.) jumbo shrimp, shell-on, deveined (sold as "raw, ready to peel")
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp chili powder (or sub 1/2 chipotle pepper and omit cayenne)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
lemon wedges

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks great! I bet IF you could manage to get your diners to NOT suck on the shells, boiling them would make a great broth for later (like risotto?)
Luisa Vacaville

Chef John said...

sorry, the shells will be sucked. But, great thinking.

Vicki said...

I know what you mean about rain - I grew up in Chicago, and moved to southern CA 10 years ago. I miss real rain!

Oh, and the shrimp look fabulous :)

Leslie said...

Wonderful shrimp..I have never seen, raw, ready to peel shrimp. But what a great whay to prepare them! Yummy

Chef John said...

Thanks -- if you have a sharp knife, you can cut them the same way. And you can still do it with regular shrimp.

Zoe Francois said...

I had dinner and these shrimp make me hungry all over again! I just happen to have some shrimp and this is what I will be doing with them tomorrow.

dodelledod said...

what's the background song called? it's really catchy. im so going to ask my mom to make this recipe later when im back home.

cheers.

Chef John said...

it called "buddy" and comes with iMovie

Anonymous said...

I really want to make this, but where I am those "ready to peel" shrimp are not available. Is it easy to devein them oneself while keeping the shells on like that? Also, your slaw looked really nice, could you please demo that sometime?

Thank you Chef John.

Steven.

Chef John said...

if u have a sharp knife u can, or use regular shrimp.

Anonymous said...

I made this dish this weekend. And the yogurt grilled chicken.
And a mango salad inspired by your tomatillo salsa.
And the Cabernet-cherry sauce served atop smoked turkey drumsticks.
While wearing my "A Hollandaise can sense fear" T-Shirt.
Your work is appreciated by 6 Phoenix foodies:
http://thoxbui.com/shopblog/slides/IMG_0959.html

Chef John said...

that's awesome! Thanks. I'm going to post that picture!

Anonymous said...

"ready to peel:" I couldn't find ready-to-peel jumbo shrimp either. But a pair of kitchen shears with pointy tips worked very well in quickly converting the regular shrimp into RTP shrimps.

Chef John said...

yes, great tip!

Anonymous said...

such a lovely recepie! I'll be trying this out on the weekend since rain is predicted.

love the show and blog Chef John, I'll be giving the show 5 stars over at my online video reviews site.

Keep up the wonderful work.
-taural "the Critic"

Zach said...

This recipe has become a staple for me. It's excellent even if you don't have the ready to peel shrimp! Thanks for all of your great recipes!

franiqueblack said...

Just to let you know that I've tried this recipe yesterday and it was simply delicious and sweet! Prep time was shorter than I thought!

Keep posting, Chef John! :)

Nepenthe said...

My husband hates to peel shrimp skin when eating them. Can I still make this w/o the skin and still turn-out delicious?

Unknown said...

Didn't have allspice so I used a dash of nutmeg-turned out great. Great cold too!

Sahreesh said...

May I use frozen shrimp, already cooked and deveined?

Chef John said...

It will not be good. You can't cook cooked shrimp and get a good result!

armin.thielking@gmail.com said...

are you able to rerun the video?? Love to see it......