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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Is this dish spice or hot ?
Hi Lisa, Not really — my kids love it and they don’t do spicy 🙂
I see a nice sauce in your final photo! But your recipe says to drain the marinade. Are you adding the marinade back in the pan? Or discarding it? Where did the sauce come from? Thanks.
Hi Francis, That is just the pan juices. Definitely discard the brine.
The flavor is awesome. I altered only a tad…instead of vegetable oil, I used an olive oil & butter mix. I only had ginger paste on had and it worked for me. I added sugar to the brine but NOT in the cooking part. Awesome! Will make again soon!
I made this recipe for some friends, and they kept asking me from which restaurant I got the recipe.
I love the spices and flavor in this recipe! However, I did have to throw out my first batch as it was EXTREMELY salty (and I drained the marinade all the way). I will continue to use this recipe but tone down the salt by a lot.
We made this recipe last night for the first time. It was clear to us shortly after adding the shrimp that there was not going to be any sauce, so we added some white wine and butter. We also added blanched green beans. Yummy!
Delicious! I did not find mine too salty. For reference, I used Morton’s Coarse Kosher salt. (Maybe those who found it inedible used table salt, or Kosher salt that is more finely ground, and that threw off their amounts?) The only change I made was reducing the ginger. After I minced the amount specified in the recipe, it seemed so much (in my eye) that I held back about 1/3 of it. I enjoyed it very much–fragrantly gingery without being overpowering. I’ll make this recipe again and again!
I wonder how many used table salt rather than kosher salt. Certainly would make a difference.
Really easy and tastes great! We would do this one again. I used frozen shrimp which makes it easy for a school night meal.
Jenn. Another five star recipe! I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. The fresh ginger was so pronounced in this dish and it pairs beautifully with rice. You keep my meals interesting! I am cooking/baking my way through your entire fantastic website.