Oahu's North Shore is one of the most iconic locales in all of Hawaii. While many people go there for the surf or to watch sea turtles swim about, Food Trucks take advantage of the crowd and offer up some of the most tasty snacks and meals on the island. One particular staple, represented by numerous trucks, is Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp. Packed with enough garlic to slay Dracula himself, this crispy shrimp hits the spot and satisfies the hungriest tourist and local alike! The Hawaiians have managed to take a wonderful seafood in shrimp itself and make it essentially irresistible. Warm and crispy, this garlic motherlode shrimp is the go-to food of the North Shore! If you can't book the next flight to Honolulu, do the next best thing and check out this Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp recipe. Let's get cooking!
The first step to making crispy Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp is to pat dry the shrimp to get a better light coating for frying. Peel and devein your shrimp, something between that 41-50 (large) and 26-30 (extra large) size, and use a paper towel or kitchen towel to remove any and all moisture. It takes a few minutes and seems tedious, but the coating we will be making sticks much better to dry shrimp and stays light rather than thick and chunky. You could even go as far as drying off the shrimp, place them on a baker's drying rack, and sticking them in the fridge a few hours if you don't mind totally stinking up your fridge, lol. Otherwise, a towel and a solid job drying them off will do the trick!
As your shrimp continue to air dry, we will make the dry coating. In a mixing bowl, combine the rice flour, paprika, cayenne, and salt. Normally I would agree that you can substitute AP flour here, but in this particular case I highly suggest you use rice flour. It is just lighter and finer ground making a better coating for that extra crispy final texture. You might possibly be able to get away with using corn starch, but rice flour is readily available in most grocery stores so just spend the couple bucks on a small bag and enjoy using it in future chicken frying recipes, trust me! Anyway, after you mix the coating ingredients, add the shrimp and toss to evenly coat them. Do this in small batches to prevent clumping. Once your done with all the shrimp, put them all back in the bowl and give it a few final tosses to make sure every last bit of shrimp is lightly coated and ready for frying.
While the frying step is critical to producing the crispy shrimp we are trying to achieve, there are a couple variations I will walk you through. First, do yourself a favor and keep a log of this Vampire Assassin Roasted Garlic Butter in your fridge at all times. Not only is it perfect for this recipe, the roasted garlic is just another level of flavor you can't shortcut and get by fast frying some minced garlic in butter. I'll begin by assuming you have it on hand this time. Melt a few tablespoons of the roasted garlic butter in a sauté pan with olive oil. The olive oil will help slightly raise the smoke point so we can fry the shrimp a little hotter and faster than butter alone. Once everything is hot and melted, add the lightly coated shrimp and pan fry on each side 2-3 minutes. We don't want to overcook the shrimp but we definitely want that crispy fried texture so just stay on top of it and do it in a couple batches if necessary. If you don't have the roasted garlic butter on hand, melt some butter in a pan and add the minced garlic. Sauté this for a couple minutes until the garlic is fragrant and pour off into a separate container. Using the same pan, fry the shrimp 2-3 minutes per side just using olive oil. When the shrimp is just about finished cooking on the second side, pour the garlic-infused butter back in the pan and toss to coat all the shrimp. If you just try to make garlic butter and fry the shrimp in one go the garlic will burn and it will 100% suck so please just follow the directions for a better meal! Anyway, I digress.......after the shrimp is done frying, using either method, transfer them to a serving dish and pour the extra garlicky butter and oil mixture over them for a final seasoning. Give them a light spritz of lemon juice if you like or just enjoy the garlic overload you are about to inhale!
As you can see above, I made mine in two batches then combined them all at the very end before plating. Other than a little garlic butter controversy, that is how quick and simple Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp is to make! Yours may be a bit lighter in color if you didn't use the roasted garlic butter, but the taste is essentially the same....over-the-top garlic-slathered crispy shrimp that is sure to convince yourself and anyone else that enjoys them to book a trip to Oahu soon! You can enjoy these as an appetizer, a snack, or even as a game day treat as you root on your favorite team. They are best when served immediately after frying so I don't suggest trying to make a mega large batch or doubling up anything. If you do choose to go big, just realize the crispiness will give way somewhat and they will just be delicious garlic shrimp, but still very enjoyable! Give these little guys a try and let me know what you think. Did they remind you of those amazing food trucks on the North Shore? Until next time, my food family, get in the kitchen and make delicious food......Just Keep Cooking!
HAWAIIAN GARLIC SHRIMP
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