If there’s an annual award for the country with the longest Christmas season, the Philippines will win each and every year. As early as the first of September, people start the Christmas countdown. It can be infectious, really, because even food purveyors, online shopping sites and malls launch their Christmas shopping campaigns at around that time — sometimes, even as early as the latter part of August.
But why am I talking about Christmas in October? Because I have a recipe for what just may be the perfect party dish. It’s easy to make, the ingredients are few, but the cooked dish is so good that everyone on the dinner table will think you’re a kitchen genius who labored over it.
The recipe is from April 2016, according to the EXIF data of the photos. One of those dishes that I wanted to make again and take new photos, but it turns out that I still cannot eat head-on shrimps. I had been allergic to crustaceans since childhood. I got over it after decades but only partially. The only shrimps I can eat are fully dressed ones.
So, this dish of whole shrimps with lemon garlic butter sauce is not likely to be cooked again any time soon. The photos aren’t that bad anyway although I wish I can provide illustrations for cleaning the shrimps. You have to cut through the back of the shell, you see, and pull out the digestive tract before you can cook them.
There is a full post on prepping shrimps in the archive for both the “usual” way and tempura-style. But the instructions do not include photos for head-on unshelled shrimps. If it’s any help, see the photo below which shows how to clean a shelled shrimp, or read the entire post.
How large should the shrimps be for this dish? Medium to large ones, I’d say. You definitely do not want small ones. But if I have to provide measurements for medium or large shrimps, well, that will be quite difficult. What may be considered large shrimps here in the Philippines may be labeled “medium” in your country. For example…
At Kuromon Market in Osaka, Japan, we saw shrimps and prawns so large and fat that… Well, too bad it’s difficult to source top-grade shrimps in our local markets. The Philippines is one of the top 10 producers of shrimps in the world but the best ones are exported to Japan, the United States and South Korea. The large shrimps we saw at Kuromon may have come from Philippine seas. What we get at home are those that aren’t considered good enough for export. Sad but true.
So, as a guide, that’s a 10-inch dinner plate that you see in the first photo and the shrimps are what we call “medium” here at home.
Ingredients
- ½ kilogram medium to large shrimps (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 tablespoons salted butter divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic (you may always use more)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (again, you may always use more)
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Rinse the shrimps and drain well.
- Using a small knife or kitchen shears, make a shallow cut along the length of the shell on the back of each shrimp.
- Pull out the digestive tract (it looks like a bleack thread) and discard.
- Cut off most of the antennae and feet, and discard.
- Place the cleaned shrimps in a bowl. Add the salt and pepper, and toss well.
- Heat two tablespoons of butter in a wide shallow pan and spread the shrimps in a single layer. Cook for about two to three minutes (depending on their size) then flip them over and cook for another two minutes.
- Scoop out the shrimps and arrange on a serving plate.
- Heat the rest of the butter in the pan, add the garlic and cook over low heat, stirring often, until aromatic (you can wait until the garlic bits start to brown but watch it because garlic and butter both burn fast).
- Pour in the lemon juice and whisk.
- Taste and add salt, if needed (remember that the shrimps have already been salted).
- Stir in the parsley.
- Spoon the contents of the pan over the shrimps.
- Serve immediately.
