Bold cajun spice. A butter and lemon sauce that pools around every piece. A cook time so fast it almost doesn't seem real. This is the cajun butter shrimp recipe that makes crusty bread a mandatory addition and earns its place in the permanent rotation after the first bite.
Cajun Butter Shrimp
|HALO
Cajun Butter Shrimp
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Category
Main
Cuisine
American
Author:
HALO
Servings
4 people
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
8 minutes
While the shrimp marinate make the fresh herb oil. Combine olive oil, finely chopped parsley, mint, lemon juice, and flaky salt in a small bowl. Stir to combine. The herb oil should be bright green and fragrant. Set aside at room temperature.
Ingredients
Shrimp
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700g large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
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8–10 flat metal skewers or pre-soaked wooden skewers
Marinade
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4 tablespoons olive oil
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4 cloves garlic, finely grated
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Zest of 2 lemons
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Juice of 1 lemon
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1 teaspoon dried oregano
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1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
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1 teaspoon fine salt
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½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
Fresh Herb Oil
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4 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
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Small handful fresh flat leaf parsley, very finely chopped
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Small handful fresh mint, very finely chopped
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Juice of half a lemon
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Pinch of flaky sea salt
To Serve
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Lemon wedges
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Warm flatbread or pitta
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Greek yogurt or tzatziki
Directions
Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add the shrimp and toss to coat completely. Marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature. Remember shrimp marinate fast and the acid in the lemon juice begins to denature the protein on the surface if left too long. 20 minutes is enough for full flavor penetration without changing the texture.
While the shrimp marinate make the fresh herb oil. Combine olive oil, finely chopped parsley, mint, lemon juice, and flaky salt in a small bowl. Stir to combine. The herb oil should be bright green and fragrant. Set aside at room temperature.
Thread the marinated shrimp onto skewers, 4–5 shrimp per skewer depending on size. Thread through both the tail and the body of each shrimp in a slight S-curve so they lie flat against the griddle surface rather than spinning on the skewer.
Remove the shrimp from the marinade and pat lightly with a paper towel to remove excess surface liquid.
Heat your Elite Griddle to high on the primary cooking zone. Add a thin film of oil. Allow to come fully to temperature before the skewers go on.
Place the skewers flat on the griddle surface. The skewer format means every shrimp makes full contact with the steel simultaneously, this is the advantage of flat metal skewers over round ones which allow the shrimp to rotate away from the surface. Leave alone for 2 minutes.
Flip the skewers once. Cook for a further 90 seconds on the second side. The shrimp should be pink, slightly charred at the edges, and just opaque all the way through. Remove immediately.
Lay the skewers on a board or platter. Spoon the fresh herb oil generously over every skewer. Add a squeeze of lemon over the top. Serve immediately with warm flatbread and yogurt alongside. Pull the shrimp from the skewers at the table.
Recipe Note
Flat metal skewers are significantly better than round wooden ones for griddle cooking. Flat skewers hold the shrimp in position. Round skewers allow the shrimp to spin and end up with the contact side always facing up rather than down.
The S-curve threading technique, through the tail and through the body, keeps the shrimp lying flat against the cooking surface. Threading through only one point allows the shrimp to hang and only the center makes contact with the steel.
Fresh herb oil rather than a cooked butter sauce for this recipe, the brightness of the raw herbs and lemon against the charred, garlicky shrimp is the flavor contrast that makes this dish work. A cooked sauce would add richness where this recipe needs freshness.
This recipe works equally well as a starter for 6–8 people or a main for 4. Scale the shrimp quantity and keep the herb oil proportional.
This recipe is part of the How to Cook Shrimp on a Flat Top Griddle complete guide — [link: full guide].
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