Thai Sweet Chili Shrimp & Rice
My husband and I love seafood, and one of our go-to dinner choices is shrimp. I normally buy the frozen jumbo shrimp from Aldi that still have the tails on. I just de-thaw them with water when I’m ready to start dinner and peel them on my own. Shrimp cooks down so much, so I prefer to use the larger shrimp that way they hold onto all the flavor better. You can use whatever shrimp you like…fresh, frozen, large, small- it really doesn’t matter. Once all my shrimp are thawed out and de-tailed, I splash with a bit of lemon juice, add salt and pepper, and set them aside.
I then start my jasmine rice. I also purchase this from Aldi, and just add it to the rice cooker with water (follow instructions on the bag to match your desired portion), turn it on, and then get back to my shrimp dish.
I use a medium/large skillet and add about a tablespoon of butter and a splash of sesame oil. Once this warms up, I add in minced garlic, a good tablespoon (or 2) of Trader Joe’s chili onion crunch which is SO GOOD, some onion powder, basil, salt and pepper. I like the flavors to marry before I add in the shrimp, because the shrimp cooks fast and you do not want to overcook it otherwise it gets a tough chewy texture. Just simmer the butter sauce on low until you’re ready to add the shrimp.
Meanwhile, you can cook up your vegetable of choice. I used zucchini with this dish, just because I think it goes so well with shrimp. Really though, you can do whatever you like—broccoli, asparagus, salad…whatever. For the zucchini, I usually use 2 because I love veggies. I dice them up and add them to a skillet that’s been prepared with olive oil. I add garlic, pepper, and everything but the bagel seasoning. I cook the zucchini until it gets a bit of a brown crust on the skin. You don’t want to overcook the zucchini either, because the last thing anybody wants is mushy zucchini. This doesn’t take long at all.
Add your shrimp to the seasoned butter sauce. Cook until the shrimp turns pink, then flip and cook through. You’ll get a bit of a golden brown color and then your shrimp is done. You can turn the heat as low as it will go and let the shrimp simmer in the sauce for a few minutes. I like to add Trader Joes Thai Sweet Chili sauce (about 1 tablespoon or so) to the shrimp because it will thicken the sauce up a bit. When the jasmine rice is done, I’ll plate that first and add another drizzle of the Thai sweet chili (I could drink that stuff). I add the shrimp on top of the rice, because I always end up mixing them together. Add sesame seeds if you have them on hand. I add a side of zucchini, and wa-la! You have a beautiful, colorful, FLAVORFUL dish. Bonus—it’s quick and easy. By the time your rice is done, dinner is ready to be served.
Ingredients
-1 lb. bag of shrimp
-1 Tb butter
-Splash of sesame oil
-1/2 to 1 Tb of minced garlic (to taste)
-1-2 Tb TJ’s chili onion crunch
-Dash of onion powder, basil, salt, pepper
-2 Tb TJ’s Thai sweet chili sauce (or whatever brand you want)
-1 c uncooked jasmine rice
-Serve with vegetable of choice—see above for how I prepare my zucchini.
-Yields: 4 servings
Let me know if you try this out! What other things do you love to make w/ the Trader Joe’s Thai sweet chili sauce?!
