Buttered Garlic Shrimp Recipe with Sprite!

 

It's a joy when you catch sight of fresh shrimps in the grocery. Like okay, for a change, instead of pork or other meat, you'll buy that instead and think what shall I do with this and its getting you excited!

The catch of buying shrimps is that, you need to cook it right away or it can stay in your freezer for 2 days tops, otherwise, it will lose its seafood freshness or it will start to emit this sulfur-chemical like stench which is very strong and you cannot cook it anymore. It will be a waste. Also,  make sure you adjust the coolness of your fridge to properly preserve your seafood.                                         

We love eating shrimps as it is, no complicated recipes or ingredients because we love eating its meat purely. So of course, as classic as this recipe is, this is my go-to recipe for our beloved, ever favorite 'shrimps'.

INGREDIENTS:

Shrimps (deveined and cleaned, whiskers removed)
Garlic (minced, lots of it)
Olive Oil 

Butter 

Lime

Salt

Pepper

Sprite (or 7-up, any lemon-lime soda)

PROCEDURE: 

1. After cleaning the shrimp, soak it in Sprite, completely submerged. Sprite is an acid as you all know and will act as a meat tenderizer. It will also give the shrimps some delicate sweet flavor but will retain its natural seafood flavor that we are after. Soak for an hour.

2. Heat the pan. On low heat, put a wee bit of oil, some full-bodied butter and place the garlic as the pan heats up. You wanna cook it on very low fire so as not to burn the garlic. When the garlic has browned, remove half of it and place in a separate plate for garnishing later on. 

3. Turn the heat 2 notches higher and place your marinated shrimp on the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Your shrimp will secrete water. When the shrimps turns into a slight orange color, (means its not yet fully done) Quickly, remove the shrimps and place it on another serving plate. 

We remove the shrimps so they will not be subjected to heat as we reduce our sauce. If it does not secrete too much water, you can skip this part, otherwise, do this! 

4. Turn the heat up a bit as you reduce the water-sprite liquid. You can add a bit of the sprite for more of its delicate sweetness, you can also taste it if you want to add more salt and pepper. At this phase I like putting a bit of the lime juice so it will mix and spread, enveloping our sauce. Continue to reduce and be attentive until you reach your desired consistency. (This is just a quick process, it should not take too long)

5. Place back the shrimps in the pan and coat the shrimps with the sauce. When all the shrimps turns into a beautiful orange with red accents as its color, it is fully cooked but not overcooked. Overcooked shrimps tends to go hard and rubbery. Quickly, turn off the heat and remove the pan from stove.

6. Place the shrimp on a plate and garnish with the garlic we saved earlier. You can also garnish this with parsley if you want.  

with flash

without flash lol

So there you go, you will notice that the shrimps are tenderly soft. Not too sweet almost like "halabos shrimp".  It is intricately flavored, highlighting the true taste of shrimps. You wanna be reminded of the ocean and its freshness. 

You can also make your sauce, some wants vinegar with spices. But I love the shrimps simply being dipped in its own sauce. That buttery, garlicky flavor is the bomb. 

And oh, I forgot to tell you, Please cook lots of rice! Enjooooy!