Inspired by my recent trip to Hawaii, I made garlic shrimp today. It’s not quite the shrimp scampi I had, but it’s a close cousin done in Chinese style and without too much grease.
Garlic and shrimp are two of my favorite ingredients and I love pairing them together whenever I feel like having a shrimp dish. Most people in the United States prefer shelled shrimp, but for garlic shrimp, I strongly suggest you to cook the shrimp head-on and with the shell intact. The shrimp head and the shell “soak up” the fragrance and nuance imbued by the chopped garlic and butter used in this garlic shrimp recipe. The natural sweetness of the shrimp heads and shell also add depth to this dish…(get garlic shrimp recipe after the jump)
If you love shrimp, you will definitely love garlic shrimp. This garlic shrimp recipe is quite easy to prepare and I hope you will get to try it soon. Do check out my shrimp recipes, too.
Ingredients:
8 oz. medium-size shrimp (head on, shell on, slit the back of the shrimp and deveined)
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1/8 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon sugar or to taste
1/2 teaspoon Chinese rice wine
Some chopped scallions
Method:
Rinse the shrimp with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Heat up a wok with olive oil or butter. Lightly saute the chopped garlic until aromatic. Add shrimp into the wok and stir well with the garlic and add rice wine. Cover the wok with its lid and cook for about 1 minute. Add chopped scallions, and salt and sugar to taste. Dish out and serve garlic shrimp immediately.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmmm… the shrimp looks delicious! I rarely eat shrimp with the shell on since I don’t like peeling it. The only times I eat shrimp with shells on are steamed shrimps with ginger in chinese restaurants. :D I think am gonna try that one but shelled, use the shell to make a stock and use it as part of the ’stir fry’ sauce :D
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, you can do so, you are creative!
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yum! this is one of my favorite dishes to make!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Natalie – yes, it’s so easy to make garlic shrimp.
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yummy………. just what i was looking for, unfortunately the shrimps i have on hand are pre-shelled n deveined. what can i add to keep it as tasty as your recipe?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
It should work but you might want to add a little bit sugar or salt to bring out the flavors. The shells give the natural briny taste to this garlic shrimp.
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also, where does the 1/2 tspoon Chinese rice wine come in? Do we add it when we saute the shrimps or when we cook it with the lid on?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Oops, yes, you add them when you saute the shrimps.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Ick, missed a step. Recipe updated.
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These shrimp are really good :). Wish mine looked as nice as yours.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Andre – yes, garlic shrimp is great! Thanks!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Well, as long as your garlic shrimp tasted good it doesn’t matter if it looked as nice or not. ;)
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This looks like a wonderful dish! I am going to Hawaii in March and hopefully will have some delicious food discoveries and inspiration too. Any suggestions? Gorgeous photos too by the way!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Tokyo Terrace, yes, you can check out my Hawaii posts on Rasa Malaysia. Check the archives for the month of September 2009! :)
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Mmmm! they look so nice! Thank you for the recipe…
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Looks absolutely scrumptious!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, Ninette, garlic shrimp is awesome!
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pat dry with water? hehe. typo!
cant wait to get back to a residence with a kitchen so i can make this. i’ve been living out of hotels recently!!!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Thanks for calling out the typo. LOL. I fixed it already.
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this looks like good old home-cooked dish.
almost like our very own ‘Kon Chin Har’ (panfried prawns with soy sauce)
a signature at Ipoh’s Mun Cheong Restaurant.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Kon Chin Har is made with soy sauce but both are great. :)
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The prawns looks so delicious. Anything garlic suits me well
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Me too, I love garlic and I love shrimp. Perfect.
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Perfect!
I have 2 kilos of prawns sitting in my freezer and I am definitely going to try this recipe and all your other shrimp recipes. Thanks for sharing and inspiring me.
Oh, and I think this is my first comment ever since I started reading your blog a year ago.
=D
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
2 KGs, wow. Yes, you can make lots of garlic shrimp.
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Thanks for sharing this recipe! Do you devein the shrimps even when you leave the shells intact? If yes, how do you do it? Sorry, I’m a novice cook!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Just slit the back of the shrimp with its shells on and devein it. You need sharp knife to slit.
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I have enjoyed a very similar garlic-shrimp at some Portuguese eateries. No scallions, lots of lemon. Completely out of the world!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Sounds yummy. Lots of lemon…hmmm.
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I love shrimps! Like the way you cook it :)
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, one of the easiest shrimp recipe ever!
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When you say, “The natural sweetness of the shrimp heads and shell also add depth to this dish” are you meaning that you eat or suck the shrimp heads, which I know people do, or does it just add flavor to the overall dish?? Just wondering. I’d normally cook w/o the heads just because firstly I’m not used to it, and second, it’s kind of creepy to see a bunch of heads and faces on my dish, but I’d be willing to try because your pictures look so delicious! And if you recommend it! Thank you for your great recipes!!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Kay – both. Yes, you can suck the head and the juice in the head. Secondly, the shell and head have a lot of flavors themselves plus when you cook them, the juice inside the head “comes out” so it adds an extra layer of flavor to this dish. They make the taste briny and shrimpy, basically.
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好到吮手指 !
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Hi Bee!!!
I hope you are doing well!!! I just made this recipe today and it turned out great, actually I didn’t have rice wine so i added a few soup spoons of chardonay.LOL it was fabulous! Thanks for sharing
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
David!!! Chardonay works too, but next time, you can add brandy or some hard liquor, make it drunken shrimp. Whahaha.
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David replied:
Wow, thanks for the tip, I will do that, I’ve got a bottle of xo sitting around waiting to be used. ;) This shots for you! and next shot is for the prawn. We are all getting drunk tonight…
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Awesome. Just a wee bit is great, too much will be bitter. LOL.
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