Here in Cow Hill, shrimp are not a common comestible. They don't swim
that far upstream in the Sulphur River, you know. But D got a
hankerin' pour les crevettes, and so she bought a pack of frozen ones
at the local Megalomart. I thawed them in the fridge overnight and
peeled them this evening.

I made pastrami a couple of weeks back, and that involved making a rub
for the meat after it had brined three days and before it was smoked.
The rub consisted of lightly toasted black pepper and coriander seeds
which had been pulverized in a spice grinder. The aroma of pepper and
coriander that wafted over me when I opened the grinder was a treat to
my nose. So I filed it away for further consideration. Tonight was a
case of further consideration, and it involved shrimp.

After toasting and grinding the pepper and coriander, I added the
ground spices to a bowl with nuoc mam and lots -- LOTS -- of minced
fresh ginger. Then I added the juice of a lime and of half a lemon
and some honey. I tasted it as I worked to get the
hot/salty/sour/sweet balance right to my palate. I zapped this in a
microwave oven a couple of times at 30-second spurts and then let it
sit to allow the flavors to marry.

I put the shrimp peels in a pot of water and brought it to a boil,
cooking it for about 15 minutes over high/medium high heat to infuse
the flavor into the water. Eventually, I set the shrimp in an oiled
skillet and seared them over very high heat, turning them once. After
they had begun to look almost done, I dumped most of the still-hot
shell stock through a sieve into the pan and gave them a stir. When
the stock got to a rolling boil, I pulled the shrimp out with a
slotted spoon and set them in a bowl on the side. Next, I added the
pepper/ginger sauce and some white wine and reduced it all to about
1/3 its original volume. Last, I returned the shrimp to the pan and
turned them to coat with the sauce and rewarm them for plating.

It was a long way from pastrami, but it was very good for a Cow Hill
shrimp dinner. And who needs shrimp pastrami, anyway?

Sides were steamed broccoli and edamame. Folks who regularly eat
starches would have enjoyed this with rice.
--
modom

"Southern barbecue is a proud thoroughbred whose bloodlines are easily traced.
Texas Barbecue is a feisty mutt with a whole lot of crazy relatives."

--Robb Walsh, Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook