WEEK 6: YOUR BEST SHRIMP RECIPE

Spicy Shrimp

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Photography by Sarah Shatz

    BY HELEN | MAKES A BUNCH OF SHRIMP

A&M: We love Sriracha’s heat, which is warm, lasting, and assertive without being overbearing. Helen combines the hot sauce with a few everyday ingredients—olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and cilantro—to create a sublime marinade for shrimp. She was right when she said, “This is dead simple, and totally delicious.” The oil and sugar give the marinade some viscosity, so it doesn’t just season the shrimp but clings to it. But it’s the sugar that makes this dish—on the grill it caramelizes, giving the shrimp a lacquered feel, and its sweetness balances the kick of the Sriracha. Buy some beer or tequila to drink with it.

    1/3 cup Sriracha

    1/3 cup olive oil

    1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

    3 garlic cloves, crushed

    1 handful cilantro, roughly chopped, plus some minced for garnish

    1 teaspoon sugar

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    2 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 count), peeled and deveined

  1. Combine the Sriracha, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, chopped cilantro, and sugar in a 1-gallon plastic bag. Season aggressively with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and mix together in the bag. Marinate in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours. Or longer.
  2. Heat a grill to medium-high. Skewer the shrimp (4 to 6 shrimp per skewer) and grill until pink and delicious, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
  3. Remove the shrimp from the grill, slide the shrimp from the skewer using a fork, and pile on a serving platter. Sprinkle with minced cilantro. Watch them disappear.

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Photography by Sarah Shatz

    TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

    Helen: “I tend to grill up millions of them, take them off the skewers, pile them on a platter, and stick toothpicks in a few. People get the idea pretty quickly, and they disappear … I like them good and spicy, but you can adjust the amount of Sriracha as you’d like.”

    ABOUT THE COOK

    You can read about Helen and see her recipe for Grilled Blade Chops over Greek Salad.

    WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID

    Lisa Schermerhorn: “I made this when I had company over Memorial Day weekend. We decided to put the shrimp over mixed greens and make a dinner salad. It was wonderful!!!”