Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp
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This delicious and flavorful ginger, garlic and chili shrimp is a dish that appeals to kids and adults alike.
In this quick and easy recipe — adapted from The Splendid Table’s How To Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift — jumbo shrimp are bathed in a brine flavored with salt, sugar and chili powder, and then sautéed with loads of fresh ginger and garlic.
It’s a delicious and flavorful shrimp dish that appeals to kids and adults alike. In fact, the recipe headnote reads: “If there is one recipe in this book that is guaranteed to have your family moaning with gratitude, this is it. After eating these shrimp, a five-year-old has been known to say, ‘Wow, Mom, thanks!’ And they’ve driven a grown woman to shamelessly lick her plate—in front of everyone.” (Thanks to my friend, Kim Cohen, for sharing the recipe with me!)
What you’ll need to make Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp
Before we get started, a few words on buying shrimp. Unless you live on the coast and have access to fresh shrimp, it’s best to buy frozen. The “fresh” shrimp you see in the seafood case at the supermarket is almost always thawed frozen shrimp, and you never know how long they’ve been sitting there. Most shrimp are cleaned and flash-frozen shortly after being caught, so you’re better off buying frozen shrimp and defrosting them yourself.
For this recipe, try to find jumbo frozen shrimp (21-25 to a pound) labeled “shell split and deveined.” Come dinnertime, all you have to do is run the shrimp under warm water to quickly defrost and then peel.
How to make ginger, garlic & chili shrimp
Begin by whisking together the water, kosher salt, sugar, and chili powder.
Drop the shrimp in the brine and let them sit for about 20 minutes.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan, and cook the ginger and garlic for one minute.
Add the sugar and cook 1-2 minutes more. Do not let the garlic brown.
Drain the shrimp in a colander.
Then add the shrimp to the pan and cook until done, 3-4 minutes.
Serve the shrimp over white or jasmine rice. The sauce is salty (in a good way) so be sure not to salt the rice. Enjoy!
Note: After making this recipe as it was originally printed, I made some minor modifications without any noticeable change in flavor. I increased the amount of shrimp from 1-1/2 pounds to 2 pounds (since frozen shrimp are usually sold by the pound) and reduced the brine by half (the recipe made a ton, and it was unnecessary). To see the original version, click here.
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Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp
This delicious and flavorful ginger, garlic and chili shrimp is a dish that appeals to kids and adults alike.
Ingredients
For the Brine
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- 2½ tablespoons sugar
- 2½ tablespoons chili powder
- 4 cups water
- 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
For Cooking
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- One 4-inch x 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (about ¼ cup) (see note)
- 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
- 4 teaspoons sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the salt, sugar, chili powder and water. Whisk until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Drop in the shrimp and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch sauté pan (preferably nonstick) over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 1 minute. Add the sugar and continue stirring until the garlic is pale gold, 1-2 minutes more. Do not let the garlic turn dark brown.
- Drain the shrimp in a colander, and immediately add to the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly, until the shrimp are pink and barely firm, another 3-4 minutes. Serve immediately with rice.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
- Note: Nutritional information was calculated assuming that approximately 1 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. sugar are absorbed into the shrimp from the brine.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 223
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Sugar: 4 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 21 g
- Sodium: 959 mg
- Cholesterol: 191 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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How do you make more sauce for the shrimp?
Hi Meryl, I find that this dish has plenty of sauce but if you’d like more, you might try adding a bit more ginger and garlic, and adding a few tablespoons of the brine to the pan along with the shrimp.
can you use dried ginger and minced garlic
Hi Ellen, Unfortunately, dried ginger won’t work in this recipe. Fresh minced is a must. Hope you enjoy it!
Yum! Thanks for the dinner idea!
Going to make this yummy-sounding shrimp dish for sure but am going to substitute vegetable oil with coconut oil.
I wonder how this would be with the Peruvian chicken green sauce on the side — any excuse to use that sauce.
I love that sauce!!!
No, nothing with any sugar content…stevia, splenda?
I’d try it with splenda…I find the taste of stevia to be bitter.
Also, do you defrost the shrimp first?
Yes
Could I use a sugar substitute? Trying to do a no sugar detox right now but this looks great!
Hi Amanda, Can you have honey or agave? I think those would work.
The sugar in the brine serves a purpose but the sugar added later is totally uncalled for.
Does the brine make the shrimp more tender?
Hi Meg, Not really, but it adds tons of flavor.
That looks delicious! I love using fresh ginger with shrimp.
I’ve got that cookbook and I remember seeing this recipe but had forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder! Yours looks fabulous!