Chili Lime Marinated Shrimp: For the Grill or the Saute Pan

Do you have plans for Memorial Day weekend?  


Here in San Diego, gloomy skies had taken over the city, but now our sunny, 70 degree weather seems to have returned just in time for the weekend.  In America's Finest City, that means everyone will be celebrating the long weekend with beach parties and barbecues.  If you live in an area of the country where it is not quite summer yet, maybe I can help you kick off the season by sending some sunshine your way... along with a great recipe for grilled Chili Lime Marinated Shrimp.  And guess what?  Even if rain ruins your Memorial Day picnic, you can go ahead and bring the sunshine inside because this recipe is just as good made in a saute pan as it is on the grill.    

Dried Ancho chili peppers.

Some meats or seafood seem to be made for the grill - for instance, a thick seasoned ribeye or a gorgeous swordfish steak just don't seem the same when they lose that dark char - but other things are just as good off the grill as they are on it.  In my humble opinion, shrimp are one of those great grill-to-stovetop transitional foods.  When threaded on skewers and grilled, marinated large shrimp cook quickly and they get a really lovely smoky flavor; they don't dry out and they are the perfect compliment to cool summer salads.  However, marinated shrimp also cook beautifully over high heat in a saute pan, and they can sometimes be even more juicy than when they are cooked on a grill.  

For this recipe, I marinated my shrimp with a classic combination of chiles, lime, and garlic (and of course, cilantro), and the results were fantastic.  For the heat and spicy flavor, I used Ancho chiles plus everyday red pepper flakes, and it worked extremely well.  If you have not used Ancho chiles before, they are extremely common in Mexican cooking and can be found in most grocery chains here in Southern California (check your local grocer).  Anchos are often used in cooked dishes, but I wanted to try them out in a marinade instead of fresh chiles - that way, I would be able to make my marinade at any time using only ingredients from my pantry plus refrigerator staples.       

Rehydrate dried chilis by soaking them in boiling water for 15 minutes.

Tom Yum Goong with Homemade Nam Prik Pao

Tom Yum Goong with homemade Nam Prik Pao... Otherwise known as Hot and Sour Soup with Prawns, and homemade Roasted Chile Paste.  This soup is a classic of Thai cuisine, and for me, is warming to the body and the soul.  Tom Yum embraces the traditional flavors of sour and spicy, with an added saltiness and a fragrance of fresh herbs that I love. 

I was inspired to make Tom Yum when my friend Steve gave me fresh lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves from his parent's garden.  I was excited because I had never used kaffir lime leaves before, although I knew they were essential for Thai cooking.  Since Steve has a strong Asian heritage, we discussed how I could use these ingredients in the most authentic way, and decided that Tom Yum was the perfect dish.         

Once I started looking through Tom Yum recipes, I quickly realized that although the soup itself is simple, the ingredients and different components are complex.  I decided I needed to do a little research (remember, I am scientist, this is my specialty).  I searched the internet and checked out some books on Thai cuisine from the library, and discovered that if I really wanted my soup to be authentic and have the best taste, I needed to make my own Roasted Chile Paste.

Roasted Chile Paste, or Nam Prik Pao, is what gives Tom Yum its characteristic 'hot' flavor.  Prik means chile, and Nam Prik together means chile sauce; when the chiles are prepared by the traditional Thai method of dry roasting (Pao, or pow), the condiment is called Nam Prik Pao.  Dry roasting involves cooking the chiles in a hot skillet or wok without any liquid or oil.  This causes them to become browned, just shy of burnt, and produces a deep smoky flavor.  The chiles used to make Nam Prik Pao vary from mild varieties such as Anaheim, to very spicy varieties such as De Arbol or Japones.  To make the chile paste, the roasted chiles are ground to a powder, and added to oil along with fine bits of fried garlic and shallots, as well as fish oil, shrimp paste, and tamarind.    

I was able to find everything that I needed to make the soup as well as the chile sauce, with the exception of tamarind paste.  Tamarind is the edible fruit from the seed pod of the tamarind tree.  Basically, the seeds are encased by a fleshy pulp that has a taste that is often sour but sometimes sweet, and as such, tamarind is another classic Thai ingredient used to impart sour flavoring.  You can buy tamarind paste pre-made, or you can purchase compressed blocks of wet tamarind and make your own paste by combining the tamarind with water (I used 12 ounces of block tamarind with 2 cups of water) and working the pulp with your hands to produce a paste.