Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Crazy-Good Pan-Seared Shrimp

Recently, I was cleaning my office and came across an old issue of Cook's Illustrated Magazine, pretty much the best cooking magazine on Earth, if you want to learn to cook...and I say that having worked for a pretty great cooking magazine that...er..wasn't this one. :D Anyway, in this issue there was an article on pan-seared shrimp that totally blew me away.

BEFORE: The hubster and I usually cook shrimp by spraying a griddle or pan with olive oil, heating the pan, sprinkling a liberal amount of sea salt on the shrimp, and then laying the shrimp down, letting it sear, then flipping it to cook the other side. The shrimp is salty and delicious, and when you're devouring it, you feel a little like you're sitting in a cafe on a beach somewhere in the Mediterranean, just steps away from the ocean.

I learned this way of doing shrimp from my husband, Leo, who is originally from Uruguay and spent many years luxuriating in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Having grown up with an Italian father and a Uruguayan-Spanish mother, Leo isn't just a good cook, he's an amazing chef, though he'll be modest about it if you say that to his face. Learning this simple way of preparing shrimp was, for me, a revelation.

AFTER:
Now, the article we read in Cook's Illustrated suggested something I had never heard before - mixing your shrimp with a little bit of sugar before adding it to the pan. I was apprehensive, but I tried it and it was amazing. Here's what I did:
  1. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to a pan - I used a skillet - and heat until it's just smoking.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix 1 pound of shrimp with 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp freshly-ground pepper.
  3. Add the shrimp to the hot pan in a single layer with room around each shrimp. Let it cook until it looks pink around the edges and is starting to look less transparent. 
  4. Flip the shrimp, and cook about 1 1/2 -2 minutes.
  5. If you have any shrimp left to cook, take the cooked shrimp out and put it on a plate. Cook the rest of the shrimp using steps 3 and 4.
  6. When all your shrimp is cooked, put them all back into the skillet, turn off the heat, and cover with a lid for about 2 minutes (we had to experiment with the timing a bit to get the shrimp cooked exactly the way we like it). 
  7. Remove the shrimp from the pan and serve.
We've had this shrimp by itself with Spanish rice, put it on top of salads, added it to a pasta dish...we've done a ton of stuff with this recipe. It's versatile and absolutely delicious. There's something about the sugar that really transforms the shrimp. But don't add too much or it'll taste too sweet.


2 comments:

  1. First off I'll have to agree with you regarding Cooks Illustrated especially if you're into the science of food and why a particular food does what it does during the cooking process. Given that what did the magazine say as to why they added the sugar and what it does during the cooking process?

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  2. James, CI says that they tried brining the shrimp, but it inhibits caramelization of the shrimp. The sugar accentuated the natural sweetness and set off the inherent sea-saltiness of the shrimp, while also promoting browning and caramelization. So using sugar gives you the flavor benefits of brining, but not the negative side effects.

    I tried to find the exact issue so you could read the full article, if you want to, but I think this might've been a subscription promotion issue, as it has no issue number or date on it anywhere.

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