Awesome tequila shrimp!

These tequila shrimp are nothing short of awesome and if you like shrimp, then you need to try this.  All you need are some simple ingredients and about 15 minutes including prep and cooking time.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 to 1 pound of raw or cooked shrimp that have been peeled, de-veined, thawed and gently rinsed.
    • I prefer raw shrimp as it gives me more control over the ‘done-ness’ of the shrimp and helps avoid over-cooking them
    • The shrimp should be completely thawed.
      • I like to thaw my shrimp on a metal cookie sheet as the metal appears to help them thaw faster by dissipating the cold temperature.
      • Don’t force thaw shrimp under running water as the water will damage the flesh
  • Cilantro: 1/2 cup of washed, chopped, fresh cilantro
  • Cream or half-and-half: 1/2 pint
  • Butter: about 1/2 stick
  • Salt: 1/4 tablespoon
  • Pepper: 1/8 tablespoon of pepper
  • Garlic: about 1/8 tablespoon of garlic powder or 1 freshly minced clove
  • Tequila: 1 tablespoon of medium to high quality golden or white tequila.

Cook ’em up…

Mix all the ingredients, except for the shrimp, in a deep sided frying pan.  Bring the sauce to a gentle boil while stirring often.  You don’t want to scorch the butter or cream, so be careful.  You will want to let the sauce gently boil/steam for a while to thicken it up a bit.  If you like really thick sauce you can add rice flour as a thickener.  Rice flour is a perfect thickener because it does not impart flavor like flour or cornstarch.

Once the sauce is at the desired consistency, and while it is still ‘cooking’, you can add the shrimp.  If you used raw shrimp, be sure to cook the shrimp in the sauce until they are completely pink.  If you used pre-cooked shrimp, you goal here is not to cook them, but to heat them up.

Choped cilantro in the deep side frying pan
Chopped cilantro in the deep side frying pan

Butter, cream and cilantro
Butter, cream and cilantro

Garlic powder, pepper and salt
Garlic powder, pepper and salt

Raw shrimp cooking in the 'sauce'
Raw shrimp cooking in the 'sauce'

Mmmm, tasty shrimp, ready to eat!
Mmmm, tasty shrimp, ready to eat!

Serve ’em up…

You can serve the shrimp as an appetizer or a main course.  The sauce can be used as either a dipping sauce for the shrimp, or as a fantastic complement to thin, angel hair style noodles.