Spicy Shrimp

Spicy Shrimp with Turkish Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs raw shrimp

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 tbsp ginger, minced

• 2 tsp brown sugar

• 2 small hot pepper (wiri wiri), seeded and chopped

• 1 sprig fresh thyme (about 1 tsp)

• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

• 3 bay leaves

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/4 tsp ground coriander

• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 tsp Spanish paprika

• 2 green onions, thinly sliced (separate white and green parts)

1. Clean, de-vein, wash shrimp and pat dry. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine sugar, cumin, coriander, black pepper and paprika. Set aside.

3. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add oil and swirl to coat.

4. Saute garlic and ginger for 30 seconds.

5. Place shrimp in pan with garlic and ginger in a single layer. Brown shrimp for 1 minute, flip and brown other side for 1 minute. Transfer along with ginger and garlic to a bowl. Do not drain the oil into the bowl; leave in pan.

6. Add vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, thyme, hot pepper, cilantro and the combined seasonings to the pan. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Continue boiling until sauce has reduced and has a thick consistency; 4 to 5 minutes.

7. Stir in shrimp and white parts of green onion. Make sure that sauce coats all the shrimp. Cook for 3 minutes.

8. Serve with white rice and garnish with green onion.

Serves: 4

Notes&Tips:

• This simple dish can be served either at lunch or dinner. It also gets you in and out the kitchen quickly. The taste is unbelievable - tangy with a bit of sweetness and spice from the hot pepper and seasonings.

• Instead of wiri wiri, you can use any hot pepper of your choice. Wiri Wiri is a very small pepper, about half the size of a cherry. So you do not need a whole pepper if you're using a scotch bonnet or habanero or jalapeno. Or you can substitute the hot pepper for a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes, depending on how spicy you'd like the shrimp. In our home, we do not eat very spicy or hot food, so I always go light on the spice and heat.

• I served this Spicy Shrimp with Turkish rice. Turkish rice has a nice sweetish taste that offset the spiciness from the Shrimp. It was an excellent paring. But feel free to use whatever white rice you have on hand or even Basmati or Jasmine rice.