I was asked last minute to make something for a Cinco de Mayo potluck (which was fantastic by the way, thanks to my friends Amelia and Joanie). It was 6:30 and I needed something to be prepared by 7:30 but had no desire to go to the grocery store. So I thought about it and decided to capitalize on the frozen shrimp I've been keeping. Frozen shrimp by the way is in my opinion just as good as fresh shrimp you can buy at the grocery store, and ends up tasting the same once cooked.
My go-to move when cooking shrimp is to make an olive oil, butter, white wine, parsley sauce. But I didn't have white wine or parsley. What I did have however was rum. And when rum or any alcohol gets cooked, the alcohol evaporates and you're left with a more concentrated version of, in this case, sugarcane (or molasses). So then I thought, what contrasts well with the sweetness of sugar? Citrus. So I went with a rum-citrus-garlic sauce. Here's how I did it.
I washed the frozen shrimp in hot water until all of the ice was melted. Because this shrimp is already cooked (you can tell this by if they're translucent--i.e. not cooked, or a light pink color--i.e. cooked). Next, I chopped up some white onion and threw them in a pan at medium-high heat with some olive oil. I then put in about 2 tablespoons of butter.
I usually like to throw cilantro into anything I can, but I've gotten tired of getting a large bundle of fresh cilantro and having it go bad. So awhile ago, I bought some dried cilantro and threw a small handful into the pan with the onions. I have to say that while it added a nice flavor, it certainly was not as strong of a flavor as fresh cilantro--to my dismay.
Now keep stirring. I turned the heat up to high until the sauce started bubbling a bit (I wanted to get those onions cooked). While it bubbled, I threw in 2 cloves of pressed garlic. I could have also used ginger in my sauce--Jamaicans often make a sugar-cane juice with ginger in it, and this combo would have carried over well to this recipe.
Now came the experimental part. I've never cooked with alcohol other than white wine and drinking on the side (yes it is common for cooks to drink while they cook). I wasn't sure how much to put in or at what heat but given that alcohol burns off in high heat very quickly anyway, I figured not too much could go wrong.
I poured in maybe around 1/2 cup of Jamaican rum. This is purely an estimate, and should be judged by each person on the amount of shrimp you have, and the smell and taste of the sauce as you go along. I then poured in about 2/3 cup of orange juice and a squeeze of lime. Fresh oranges would have been nice as well, but again, I was low on supplies and this worked out well. I continued to stir at a high heat until I could no longer smell the alcohol of the rum. Then I put the sauce on medium heat to prepare for the addition of the shrimp.
Once I got the sauce to a taste I liked--it was buttery, a little sweet, and a little spicy--I threw in the shrimp. These only needed about 3-5 minutes to cook so pay attention! To top it off, I threw in some paprika, salt and pepper, and it was ready!
I was incredibly happy with the sauce; the contrast of the sweet rum and onions with the tart citrus and lime, the spicy paprika, the smoothness and richness of butter and olive oil, and the salt created a wonderful tasty blend in every bite! And I loved using the shrimp because shrimp has such a mild taste and tender texture that it carries many varieties of flavor well.
So there you go! While using the rum probably made these shrimp more Caribbean than Mexican, they blended well with the rest of the flavors at the potluck! And its a great dish if you're cooking for many.
Other possible ideas would be using a tequila-lime sauce (Mexican), a coconut-rum sauce (Caribbean), a coconut-curry sauce (Thai), or a white-wine parsley sauce (Italian). Because shrimp exists in so many culinary cultures around the world, you can adapt this recipe easily to fit with whichever culinary theme you are striving to achieve!
Now good luck my little cocineritos! And definitely don't hesitate to experiment cooking with alcohol, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Love & Doughnuts,
The Mrakulous Kitchen
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