Barbecue (BBQ) Shrimp, New Orleans Style

Though the title says barbecue (bbq) shrimp, the shrimp is not cooked on the grill. It is cooked on stove top in butter, garlic, red hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and creole seasoning. This is an easy and addictive shrimp which is served with some bread.

Whole shrimp; with shell and head on is used and is a bit messy to eat. Fingers get dirty but it is finger licking dish!! This is a popular shrimp preparation in New Orleans and when I gave Mr. U two options for shrimp, this is the one he immediately picked. He also said he use to eat this a lot at Pascal’s Manale whenever he visited New Orleans.

Of all the shrimp recipes I made this week for Cooking Carnival, bbq shrimp is the one we liked the most, though I made it a bit salty 😛 The other recipes; biryani, curry and fry are regular at home and this is different from what I usually make.

From the pictures I saw online, this shrimp has lot more sauce than I got. I may have simmered the sauce a bit longer and my sauce was dark in color. We can probably attribute the color to the cast iron pan.

The day I made this, I did not check the weather and planned it such that I could get decent pictures before sunset and suddenly the clouds came in and had to do the best I could in the low lighting.

Source: Closet Cooking
Total Time: 20 - 30 minutes
Preparation: 5 - 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

4 tablespoon Unsalted Butter, divided into 2 tbsp
3 - 4 Cloves of Garlic, chopped, about 2 tbsp
¼ cup Hot Sauce (or to taste, I used Frank’s Red Hot Sauce)
¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce
⅓ cup Beer, Wine, Broth or Water (I used beer)
2 tablespoon Lemon Juice (½ lemon.. I used only 1 teaspoon )
2 tsp. Creole Seasoning
½ tsp. Black Pepper Powder
1 lb Shrimp, with shell on (I used large shrimp, 30-40 ct, can use peeled shrimp as well)
¼ - ½ tsp. Salt (opt. And would recommend on holding back until you taste the sauce. I wish I hadn’t added any)
¼ - ½ tsp. Chili Powder (opt and my addition. Check note below)
1 Green Onion, chopped for garnish (can use parsley)

Preparation:

Melt 2 tablespoon of butter in a pan over medium-high heat, add garlic and saute for few seconds until butter is infuses with garlic flavor.
Add hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, beer, lemon juice, creole seasoning, pepper and bring it to simmer.
Cook until sauce is reduces to half, about 4-6 minutes.
Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turns pink, curls up and is cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. I used a 10” cast iron pan and shrimp were crowded and had to keep turning them every 1-2 minutes for even cooking.
Reduce the heat to medium - low, stir in ½” pieces of remaining 2 tablespoon of butter, let it melt, adjust the seasoning and turn off the heat.
Serve it with French bread and I served it with rice.

Note:

Chili Powder - The sauce was very spicy and I recommend holding back on the chili powder. Though it was spicy, we relished it and got a kick out of it 🙂 Also, if using the link I gave for creole seasoning, mind you it also has some chili powder. Btw, chili powder is my addition and is not part of New Orleans cuisine. To be more authentic, can use paprika or cayenne pepper. I really get a kick of chili powder and use it, though it is not native to the cuisine.
Salt - For this recipe, addition of salt is unnecessary. Creole seasoning has salt and so does the hot sauce. However, the salt in seasoning and hot sauce may vary depending on the brand. Add salt with caution.
Shrimp - I used head off, unpeeled shrimp. This is usually prepared with head and shell on. Please feel free to shell the shrimp if that bothers you.