Head On Shrimp Recipe

Shrimp with the heads on are incredibly tasty. Unfortunately Fresh Direct doesn’t carry them so I have to make special trips to the fish market to get them. On my last trip, the gentleman helping seemed pleased with my purchase and said, “Where I come from, these are the only shrimp we eat,” as he used his hand to flick away the other 4 types of headless shrimp they carried.

Cooking with the head and shell on in very flavorful, and the juices inside the head are so freaking good. You suck on them like you would a crawfish. Yes, I know, lots of sexual jokes are going on in your own head right now. I’ve been trying to be very careful about my wording so it doesn’t sound so blunt.

For a 10 minute shrimp recipe with an Asian twist, try the below if you have the ingredients in your cupboards.

Ingredients

Soy sauce (I think I put 1/4 of a cup)

Honey (a big satisfying squeeze, maybe 3 TBS?)

2 TBS Siracha

2 stalks of scallion just ripped in half

Splash of sesame oil

1-2 LBS of shrimp with the head on

Now What?

Rinse the shrimp in cold water and pat dry.

In a pan, heat the soy sauce, honey, siracha, scallion and sesame oil in a pan till it boils and then throw in the shrimp.

Cook everything together till the shrimp looks cooked through and that’s it. You can take the leftover liquid and pour it over all of the shrimp. I saved mine and froze it to use as stock later because the shrimp juices have infused that sauce.

Peel, eat, enjoy and don’t forget to suck the head! Heehee.

-Joyce Huang