Spicy Garlic Soy Shrimp

Juicy shrimp cooked in a slightly spicy and very garlicky soy sauce, perfect with rice for a quick dinner. This delicious dish is so flavorful you won’t be able to resist! 

Garlicky shrimp. Seriously, do I need to say more? With just the slightest hint of spicy from crushed red peppers, lots of garlic, a little bit of sugar, and some soy sauce, this sauce is so tasty, you’ll want to use in all your dishes.

The last few days have been rainy. We even had hail earlier today and a thunder storm the last two days. Which means that the lighting isn’t so great for my photos. Sadness. But that does not mean that this shrimp dish is not as delicious as it sounds. It doesn’t take long to make and you won’t regret trying this recipe at all. Promise.

All of these ingredients are items I already have in my house. Shrimp, garlic, crushed red peppers, sugar, soy sauce, and paprika. In the right combination, it’ll taste amazing.

What you need to do first is defrost the shrimp, then deshell and devein. Or you can buy them deshelled and deveined. It’ll save you a lot of time. But don’t buy the ones that are already cooked. I don’t like precooked shrimp because I feel that it won’t be as succulent and delicious as when you cook them from raw.

Mince the garlic.

In a medium size skillet, add about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium to low heat. Wait about 30 seconds before you add minced garlic. Stir the garlic with a spatula to cook the garlic until it turns a golden brown. You want the garlic to be aromatic but be careful not to burn them.

Turn off the heat to allow the oil to cool down for about a minute before you carefully add a little bit of water. Be very careful when you do this. Oil and water do not mix well so if the oil is still hot, when you add water, it will start to pop. So be careful.

After you add the water, turn the heat to medium high. Add in the crushed red pepper, sugar, paprika, and soy sauce. Stir to mix all the ingredients.  I happen to like spicy, but if you prefer it to be less spicy, you can either add less of the crushed red pepper or replace them with black pepper. You can also use honey instead of sugar. I haven’t tested this recipe with honey so you can add it to taste.

In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup water with one teaspoon of flour. Slowly pour this mixture into the simmering sauce in the skillet and make sure to quickly stir as you pour. This step will help thicken the sauce. But you need to make sure that you stir otherwise the flour will clump together into a jelly like form.

Lastly, add the shrimp and stir to mix with the sauce. Cook the shrimp until they are no longer grey and translucent. Instead they will appear red orange.

Once the shrimp is completely cooked, pour the shrimp and the sauce into a plate.

Serve warm with rice.

Enjoy!

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