EcrosTechWiki | Recipes / Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (Mexican Shrimp in Garlic Sauce)

Adapted from Grilled shrimp with big flavor, by Christopher Kimball, Boston Globe Magazine, June 9, 2020. The adaptations consist of adjustments in some ingredients and the simplification of the cooking instructions. The quantities given will serve six to eight people as tapas. As a main dish, it will serve two or three.

1 pound	.....	Shrimp (see instructions, below)
½ teaspoon or to taste	.....	Kosher salt
½ teaspoon or to taste	.....	Ground black pepper
6 medium cloves	.....	Garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons	.....	Lime juice
2 tablespoons	.....	Olive oil (cooking quality), grape-seed or other neutral oil, divided
2	.....	Serrano or jalapeño chilis, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
4 teaspoons	.....	Butter
¼ cup	.....	Fresh cilantro, finely chopped, lightly packed

Select the size of the shrimp for this dish according to how you will present it. For a main dish, "Colossal" shrimp (13 to 15 per pound) will show best, but anything down to "Jumbo" (21 to 25 per pound) will be fine (and may be better at picking up the sauce). For tapas, where you want a flexible portion size, even smaller sizes could work better.

Peel and devein the shrimp. You can leave the tails on to give people something to pick them up by. Pat them dry using paper towels or whatever. Season them with the kosher salt and ground black pepper.

In a small bowl, stir together the garlic and the lime juice and set to one side.

In a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add two-thirds (four teaspoons) of the oil and heat until almost smoking. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook, without disturbing, until deep golden brown on the underside, about 2 minutes. If the pan isn't big enough to hold all of the shrimp, do this step in two batches, further dividing the oil. For each batch, stir, then remove the pan from the heat, and continue stirring, allowing the pan’s residual heat to finish the cooking, until the shrimp are opaque on both sides, another 20 to 30 seconds. As each batch is done, add it to the same medium-sized bowl. As an alternative to all this, just cook the gosh-darned shrimp on the stove-top the way you usually do.

Make sure that the skillet isn't too hot and add the rest of the oil (two teaspoons). Add the garlic-lime mixture. You can add some more salt if you must. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits, until the garlic is softened and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add to the pan the chopped chili pepper and any accumulated shrimp juices from the bowl, then cook until the chili is softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Turn off the heat, then add to the pan the shrimp, cilantro and butter. Stir until the butter has melted and mixed into the sauce.

When ready to serve, transfer the shrimp to a plate, scrape all of the sauce out of the pan and over the shrimp, decorate however you see fit (a lemon slice? parsley?) and put it in front of your guests.