Shrimp and Padrón Peppers with Chile Crunch
Perforated outdoor cookware allows your food to come in contact with the fire in the grill, imbuing the ingredients with delicious smoky flavor while preventing them from slipping through the grill grate. Here we season shrimp and padrón peppers with our Chile Lime Rub, a spicy-tangy blend of New Mexico chiles, lime and spices. Our homemade chile crunch, made with fresh ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes and other aromatics, adds a burst of heat and crisp texture. And if you really want to turn the heat up, you can add a handful of bird’s eye or other small chiles to the shrimp and padrón peppers in the grill pan.
Ingredients
For the chile crunch:
- 2/3 cup (5 fl. oz./160 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
- 3 star anise pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 Tbs. red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. fish sauce (optional)
- Kosher salt
- 1 lb. (500 g) shrimp, unpeeled and tails intact
- 3/4 lb. (375 g) padrón peppers
- 5 Tbs. (3 fl. oz./80 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbs. Chile Lime Rub
- Kosher salt
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Fresh mint or cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)
Directions
To prepare the chile crunch, in a saucepan over medium heat, combine the vegetable oil, shallot, garlic, ginger, star anise and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir together the red pepper flakes, soy sauce, sugar and fish sauce. Set a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl and pour the vegetable oil mixture through the sieve, pressing on the solids to extract as much oil as possible. Remove and discard the star anise and cinnamon stick. Add the shallot mixture from the sieve to the pan, set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until toasted and crisp, about 4 minutes. Add the vegetable oil–red pepper flake mixture, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is blended and toasted, 1 to 2 minutes more. Season with salt. Let cool to room temperature or keep warm if desired.
In a large bowl, toss together the shrimp, padrón peppers, olive oil, Chile Lime Rub and 1 tsp. salt. Let marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat a medium-hot fire in a grill. Place a grill wok or outdoor fry pan on the preheated grill, close the grill and preheat the pan for 10 minutes.
Place the shrimp and padrón peppers in the preheated pan and cook, tossing occasionally, until the shrimp are pink and cooked through and the peppers are lightly charred, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, toss with the lime juice and garnish with mint leaves. Serve with the chile crunch alongside. Serves 4.
Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen
