I don’t make shrimp often enough and I’m not even sure why. It’s so easy and shrimp can be flavored in so many ways. This particular dish is a little bit creamy, a little bit spicy and is loaded with flavor.
My oldest son is the big shrimp lover in our house and he doesn’t like it breaded….interesting and much healthier…obviously. My youngest son is allergic to shellfish so he did not partake in any of this, which was absolutely fine with him.
I do love recipes like this one because you can try all kinds of flavors and experiment with things you haven’t used before. Shrimp is one of those blank canvas meals, it’s just waiting for the perfect sauce.
Lemongrass is something I think a lot of people haven’t played with in the kitchen. It’s in the fancy herb produce section at your market, but you’ve never picked it up. Here’s your big chance to finally make something with it.
This is what lemongrass looks like. As you can see, it doesn’t look like grass at all (maybe a grass grows out of the top, I’ve never actually looked it up to see how it looks while in the ground). The stalks are very coarse but are amazingly fragrant. This should be readily available in your grocery store. I live in the boonies, so if I can get it….I hope you can.
In this recipe you are going to coarsely chop the lemongrass and blend it into a puree with other key ingredients. It adds a really nice background flavor to this dish.
I used my cast iron skillet to finish for the final saute. This lovely coconut sauce gets poured over the rice and it will be all smiles around the table.
I decided to leave the tails on the shrimp because I like the way it looks. However, feel free to remove them before cooking as it does make this easier to eat. I’ll let you decide how you want to do it.
Coconut Milk-Lemongrass Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
- 2 stalks lemongrass, about 4-6" each, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped
- 1 large shallot, coarsely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 thick slices fresh ginger, peeled
- 2 Tablespoons Sriracha
- zest and juice of 2 limes
- 25-30 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- snow peas
- rice
Directions
- Place coconut milk, lemongrass, shallot, garlic, ginger, Sriracha, zest and lime juice in a blender. Puree until smooth. Reserve 1-1/4 cup of this liquid.
- In a large bowl, pour the rest of the coconut puree over the shrimp and let marinate for at least three hours in the refrigerator.
- (To get the nice char marks on my shrimp I brushed my grill pan with peanut oil and grilled them for a minute a or two over high heat. But you can just cook them in your skillet if you do not have a grill pan or want to skip this step.)
- Heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add snow peas (as many as you like) and saute for about two minutes. Add reserved coconut puree and let it cook for about a minute. Since your pan is hot, the liquid will bubble. Add shrimp and saute until cooked and opaque looking, about 3-4 minutes (less time if you had them on the grill pan first).
- Pour mixture over rice. I served this with a combination of jasmine and brown rice but you can use whatever kind you like.
Kristin says
This looks so good! Perfect for hot Florida summers! I always have all of these ingredients on hand except the lemongrass. I can’t get it at my supermarket so I have to go to a specialty food store on the other end of the city, but it’s worth it. It lends a great flavor. I’m bookmarking this one as a “must try”. Have a great weekend, Cathy! đŸ™‚
Cathy says
Thanks Kristin, I hope lemongrass comes to regular grocery store soon…nudge the produce guy.
Kristin says
I went to the store today on my lunch break to get ingredients tonight to make this. I ended up getting lemongrass paste since I didn’t have time to go to the other end of town for lemongrass. We’ll see how it works. Oh, and last night I made your crispy quinoa that you recently posted too. It was a real winner!! My husband literally licked his plate. Ha ha.
Jacey in SC says
Oh my goodness the flavors, sounds so delish. I love cooking with lemongrass, it a whole different flavor. Thank you for this!!
Cathy says
Thanks Jacey!
Angel says
I read somewhere yesterday that lemongrass is a natural mosquito repellant. It’s a pretty plant too. Looks like it’s only good for hardiness zones 9-10 and I’m nowhere near there. Guess will have to keep buying it in the grocery store.
Cathy says
Wow, I’ve never heard that, lucky for those who can grow it. Thanks for stopping by.
Jerry | Simply Good Eating says
Love the combination of you using the coconut milk with lemon grass. The shrimp looks amazing and delicious. Thanks for sharing this post đŸ™‚
Mira says
Can I use low fat coconut milk in this recipe or will that effect the flavor of the dish?
Cathy says
You can surely use it. I can’t comment on how it will change the recipe since I have not used lite coconut milk. As with anything “lite” it just makes the recipe taste less “rich”. Let us know how it goes.
Linda in Florida says
Made this for dinner, it was insanely yummy. Love that lemongrass flavor and the spicy heat. Thanks for this one, will make throughout the summer. Yours is my favorite food blog, thanks for all your recipes!!
MaryAlice Ridgway says
This looks great! I’m probably the only one who doesn’t know: what is sriracha?
Cathy says
It’s hot sauce, you’ll find it in the Asian section of the grocery store.
Food lover says
This was delicious! My only complaint is the lemongrass pulverizes into stringy bits, which detracted fromt he sauce a bit. To be honest this is my first time cooking with lemongrass, so I’m not sure if I did something wrong.
Cathy says
Hmmm, sounds like an issue with the blender. Do you have a really high powered blender like a Blendtec or a Vitamix? I have never had it happen so it sounds like a blender issue.
Stacey says
I ran into a stringy issue as well – even with a powerful vitamix. hmm. I solved this by running the sauce through a strainer. Worked perfectly. Would love to know why so stringy though – maybe I should have chopped into smaller pieces? I put them in the blender at about 1/2 inch lengths.
Luraine Nuzzo says
You can usually buy lemongrass plants at herb shoes
Or at greenhouses. It is an annual above zone 8.
You can make a bundle of lemon grass and throw
It in with your pasta while boiling and it gives a
Wonderful lemon flavor to it. I also put a bundle
In my roasted chicken and turkey. Can also
Be used in a bundle to steam rice. Then just
Toss your bundles before serving.
Marilyn. Tomasian says
I am making this fab meal this weekend. All your meals are great, but I am on a very low sodium diet. Sucks, maybe one tsp. a day. I do okay if I don’t bring in processed food. Any hoo, I enjoy your posts. Keep them coming. Look forward to the next.
Tom Chambers says
Yeah, so this sounds incredible! I’m gonna make it just like the recipe says the first time. But I’m wondering…my son isn’t a big fan of shrimp. Do you think it would be nice with chicken breast meat instead???
…BTW, I’m a big fan of your recipe’s Cathy! Thank You!
Cathy says
Hmmm…hmmm…I’m trying to imagine it. I guess it could work. I would cut up the chicken and good a good brown going on the outside, otherwise it might not look appetizing. Let me know how this experiment goes.
Jelli says
Lemon grass does indeed grow a tall wide grass at the top. Our neighbor has it in her garden,which prompted me to look for this recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Kenneth says
I don’t care for the flavor or Siracha. Can anyone suggest a substitute?
Cathy says
I would choose Sambal Oelek, your fave hot sauce or a chili paste.