Taming & Emulsifying

Shrimp in Garlic Butter Sauce

 Emulsified garlic butter sauce (Photo by Cynthia Nelson
Emulsified garlic butter sauce (Photo by Cynthia Nelson

Hi Everyone,

 

I had a craving for shrimp, and like most Guyanese, it takes no effort to convince me to make a curry. But on this occasion, curry was not what I wanted – shocking! I felt like eating plump shrimp cooked in a rich buttery sauce infused with garlic and fresh herbs, and I had just the right thing to accompany it – freshly baked artisan bread. I even had 20140809Tasteslikehomeplans for the leftovers – I was going to toss it with hot pasta the following day. There was just one problem – how to make the sauce so that it did not end up like clarified butter with bits of garlic.

It was time to hit the books and the Internet. I found many recipes – American-style Shrimp Scampi, Spanish-style Garlic Shrimp and many recipes for Shrimp in Cream Sauce, as well as the Chinese-style Steamed Prawns in Garlic Sauce. While many of the recipes looked pleasing and appetizing, none was exactly what I wanted. I was after a recipe that had an emulsified sauce with the flavour of garlic, without actually seeing the garlic in the sauce. With many of the shrimp scampi recipes the shrimp glistened with the melted butter with bits of garlic and herbs that clung to it. The sauce itself pooled at the bottom of the dish. The cream based sauces were enhanced by the addition of heavy cream. I did not have heavy cream and I was determined that the creaminess of my sauce must be a combination of the butter and garlic.

 

Deduction

I contemplated grating the garlic and mixing it with the butter before heating but I knew that once the butter melted, just as the foam and milk solids would separate, so too would the garlic. Can’t work.

 

I could mince the garlic and cook it low and slow in the butter until it softened and then mash it with the back of a spoon. It might work but it would take a long time to cook and I would invariably miss some of the garlic. Nah. Too much work, and not a sure thing.

At each turn the issue was always with the garlic – it should be present but not seen. There should be no hint of its raw pungency or evidence of it being undercooked. And that’s when it hit me – tame the garlic by roasting it!

Garlic, when roasted, transforms from being raw, crunchy and astringent to soft, caramelized, sweet and buttery. The aroma is irresistible and appetizing. The flavour is undeniably garlicky.

Using roasted garlic was also going to solve my issue of emulsification. To emulsify means to bind two things together that don’t naturally bind – like water and oil or vinegar and oil. In order for such opposing elements to combine, an emulsifier or bridge substance is needed. For example when making mayonnaise, the egg yolks act as the emulsifier for the oil and lemon juice. With certain salad dressings, mustard is the emulsifier. In my case, I needed the melted butter and the garlic to bind and make a sauce. Therefore, with the garlic roasted, and having changed its make up – from crisp and crunchy to soft and butter-like, it meant that mashing it to a smooth paste would ensure that it combined well with the melted butter and would stay whole even with the addition of fresh lime/lemon juice when added at the end of cooking. It was a win-win situation.

The sauce came together easily when I made it, and it had exactly the flavour and texture I was after. When the shrimp were added to the sauce, the two united, they clung to each other. Each shrimp was a pleasure to bite into.

Here’s how you can make it.

 

INGREDIENTS

 

4 oz./1/2 cup/1 stick butter (salted or unsalted)

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1 teaspoon minced hot pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste

10 – 12 cloves roasted garlic, mashed to a smooth paste (see notes below)

4 tablespoons tap water/stock/white wine

1 pound large shrimp, shelled, de-veined

2 tablespoons minced parsley

Salt to taste

Fresh lime/lemon juice

 

DIRECTIONS

 

Cut butter into large chunks and add to a cold pan along with the thyme and pepper and place over medium to low heat to melt. When the butter melts completely, add the garlic paste and whisk until the sauce thickens. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes.

Add water, stock or wine; whisk and simmer for 2 – 3 minutes.

Add shrimp and parsley, toss to mix with the sauce and cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink and cooked. Season with salt to taste and add a squirt or two of lime/lemon juice; toss to mix and serve immediately.

 

NOTES

 

The garlic can be roasted in the oven or on the stovetop. The stovetop is quicker for this recipe. Add whole unpeeled cloves of garlic along with a couple tablespoons of oil to a cold pan. Place the pan over medium heat and just as it begins to sizzle, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until a knife inserts easily into the garlic. Let cool until you can handle and remove the flesh from the skins. This can be made ahead and refrigerated.

If you use salted butter, taste the sauce before adding more salt as some butters contain more salt than others.

A tip I learnt from Chinese recipes – toss the shrimp with a little baking soda and salt for several minutes before cooking. The baking soda does something to the shrimp making it cook up plumper and tenderer.

For this recipe I left the tails on for easy pick-up but you can remove them.

Enjoy!

Cynthia

Cynthia@tasteslikehome.org

www.tasteslikehome.org