Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

pepper shrimp

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Nickole Smith-Palacios
New York, NY

WARNING!! The following recipe is rated H for Hot! I eat this by itself as peel and eat shrimp but you can eat it with whatever you want though. Great snack for Sunday Football!

(1 rating)
yield 10 serving(s)
prep time 1 Hr
cook time 15 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For pepper shrimp

  • 2 lb
    raw head on prawns (you can use head off, just use less salt, and marinate less time)
  • 1
    small lemon (halved)
  • 2 Tbsp
    table salt (or fine sea-salt if available)
  • 5
    large cloves of garlic
  • 2
    large shallots
  • 10
    allspice berries (ground)
  • 1 Tbsp
    ground black pepper
  • 1 pinch
    ginger
  • 3
    limes
  • 5
    whole, fresh habanero chilies
  • 1/4 c
    apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp
    cayenne pepper powder
  • 1/2 tsp
    red food coloring (optional)
  • 1 1/2 c
    cups water
  • 2 Tbsp
    butter
  • 1
    pair of gloves

How To Make pepper shrimp

  • 1
    Place prawns in a bowl, squeeze lemon juice over them and toss. After about 2 minutes rinse and drain the prawns leave them in their bowl.
  • 2
    In a blender mix the garlic, shallots, ginger and habaneros. Juice the limes and add in the ground black pepper, 1/2 the ground allspice, and cayenne. Puree until smooth, then pour it liberally over the prawns. Toss prawns until they’re well coated.
  • 3
    Let the prawns marinate for about 1 hour stirring them around about every 10-15min. (You can let them marinate for longer but more time equals more heat. You may want to start with an hour until you've found your tolerance level.)
  • 4
    After the prawns have marinated, get your large pot heating on the stove with the water, salt, remaining allspice.
  • 5
    # Pour the marinating liquid from the prawns into the pot and begin reducing. Reduce the liquid down by about half or until it’s a moderately thick syrup.
  • 6
    When the liquid has reduced pour in the prawns and cover stirring about every 5 minutes until the prawns have all changed color to the nice pink-opaque (try not to overcook them, they will get really dry!) Using a slotted spoon, scoop all the prawns out of the liquid and place the prawns on the side in a bowl.
  • 7
    With the liquid remaining in the pot add the vinegar (add food coloring here) and butter and begin reducing again. This time allow the sauce to reduce down to a runny paste, thick enough that its not covering the bottom of the pan. Add in the previously cooked prawns and toss to coat. Remove all of the prawns from the pan and pour any remaining sauce over them.
  • 8
    Serve chilled or at room temp.... goes great with a cold beer =)
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