Citrus Curry Shrimp

This past week has been Shrimp-tastic!

Just look at those cute little pink critters sizzling away...


This past week, I enjoyed a couple of lunch events with friends. This dish was used for lunch with the Educator GF's at TORC's. Even though we saw each other a mere few weeks ago, we wanted not just to see her, but to spend some time with her cute 18 month old daughter. Believe it or not, we watched more than a few Sesame Street videos on YouTube (on their nice big Blue Ray screen). As we watched Elmo sing "Firework" by Katy Perry and Cookie Monster sing "Share it Maybe" (a parody of that horrible song, "Call Me Maybe), we enjoyed watching her toddler jump up and down excitedly to the songs.

Here, let me spread some of the pain. Only a few seconds is all you need to hear...

If you listened to the whole thing, you deserve a blue ribbon for masochism.

Ironically later that weekend, the Elmo puppeteer, Kevin Clash, was in the news for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a 16 year old BOY (who is now 23). Clash was then put on leave by Sesame Street. Later today, I read on yahoo news that the boy recanted and said that their relationship was "consensual". Either way, it gives me the creeps because a 40-something year old man shouldn't be seeking out a "relationship" with an underage teenager! WTF!

Shudder!

Anyhow, back to the skrimps...I never saw this type before so I wanted to give it a go.

Prior to sauteeing the shrimp, these tender morsels were marinated in a citrus mixture. The other pan was the curry sauce.

The finished product. I ended up pouring only half of the sauce over the shrimp. The original recipe called for scallops and for the plating to be only three scallops per plate with a dollop of sauce. I tweaked things a bit as you will see...

Here's the recipe from a cookbook I dug up from my library. My substitutions are higlighted:

Sauteed Scallops Shrimp in a Citrus Curry Sauce

Ingredients:
12 large shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp sugar
juice of 1 lime (I didn't have any, so I used a few frozen calamansi juice cubes)
juice of 1 clementine, tangerine, or orange (I used a tangerine)
½ tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 tsp chili oil (I used a tiny spoonful of chili garlic sauce)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp rice vinegar (I used regular vinegar)
2 tbsp peanut oil (I used canola)

Curry Sauce:
1 tbsp Madras curry powder (I used the Fresh & Easy jarred curry powder)
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
 1 tbsp sugar
 ½ cup minced cilantro

Directions:
1) Marinate the scallops shrimp.
Toss the scallops with the garlic, sugar, lime calamansi and clementine tangerine juices, red pepper flakes and chili oil, fish sauce, water, and vinegar. Cover the shrimp and set them aside for 10 – 15 minutes.

2) Make the curry sauce.
Dry fry the curry powder for a few moments in a small saucepan, just until it begins to become fragrant, then pour in the coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar. Stir well and bring to a boil. Boil until the sauce is reduced by half.

3) Saute the shrimp.
Remove the shrimp from the marinade and pat dry. Add the marinade to the curry sauce. Heat a large saute pan with the peanut oil to the smoking point. Place the shrimp in the skillet without overcrowding, making sure they lie on their flat surfaces. Sear for 3 to 4 minutes without moving them, then turn them once and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

4) Finish the sauce.
Return the sauce to a boil while the shrimp cook..

5) Pool ¼  of sauce in each warmed dinnner ate and arrange three shrimp in the center of the plate. Sprinkle with cilantro

(source: pages 166-167 of “Half-Scratch Magic” by Linda West Eckhardt & Katherine West DeFoyd, Clarkson/Potter Publishers, New York, 2003)

While the curry sauce was a bit too strong for my liking, my friends enjoyed the dish very much. I liked the citrus flavors in this and the calamansi turned out to be a good substitute for the lime juice since calamansi is a type of Philippine citrus fruit. The flavors were both bright, sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Next time, I'll have to try this out with the scallops.