Simple Honey-Garlic Shrimp

Honey-garlic shrimp ready in just half an hour. They’re sticky, garlicky, and packed with big flavors -perfect for a weeknight dinner!

The star of this dish is our sauce. It’s the giant flavor component that binds everything together, whether you decide to eat the shrimp with a bowl of hot rice, with salad, or just on its own.

The tip to really maximize the taste of our sauce is to scrape the pan after frying the shrimp. The brown bits you see stuck to the pan? That’s pure flavor right there, also known as “fond”. It’s the leftover caramelized sugars and proteins of the shrimp brought about by the Maillard reaction, which gives seared foods that distinct, irresistible taste.

Tips for frying the shrimp

Because this recipe is so simple, it’s easier to spot the mistakes if you ever make any.

1. One of the mistakes is searing the shrimp on too low of a heat: This lessens the amount of fond we create in the pan and also reduces the full potential flavor of the shrimp itself.
2. Another mistake is overcooking the shrimp. Shrimp cooks fairly quickly, and if left unattended, you can be left with rubbery, chewy, and tough shrimp. Not that great.

A rule-of-thumb that I usually follow is the “C” and “O” signs.

If you see that the shrimp has a “C” shape, it’s either perfectly cooked or just in the process of being done, so make sure you remove it from the pan soon.

If the shrimp has a very tight “O” shape, that means it’s overcooked and you should remove it immediately to avoid rubbery shrimp.

Ingredients

•Cleaned, deveined shrimp
•Salt
•White pepper
•~5 cloves minced garlic (or more)

Sauce:
•3-4 tbsp honey
•2 tbsp soy sauce
•1/2 tsp chilli flakes
•Splash of lime juice

Instructions

1. For the sauce, mix together the honey, soy sauce, chilli flakes, and lime juice together in a bowl. Adjust according to taste and set aside.
2. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Fry on an oiled pan for around 1-2 mins on each side until cooked through then remove.
3. Fry the minced garlic in the same pan until slightly golden. Add in the prepared sauce mixture, and let this boil for about a minute or until it reduces into a sticky sauce.
4. Return the cooked shrimp to the pan and toss to coat in the sauce.
5. Top with green onions or sesame seeds.

Simple Honey-Garlic Shrimp

4.8 from 5 votes

Recipe by Ian Course: Main, SeafoodCuisine: Asian

Honey-garlic shrimp ready in just half an hour. They’re sticky, garlicky, and packed with big flavors -perfect for a weeknight dinner!

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

• Cleaned, deveined shrimp

• Salt

• White pepper

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• Sauce

• 3-4 tbsp honey

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes

• Splash of lime juice

Directions

• For the sauce, mix together the honey, soy sauce, chilli flakes, and lime juice together in a bowl. Adjust according to taste and set aside.
• Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Fry on an oiled pan for 1-2 mins on each side until cooked through then remove.
• Fry the minced garlic in the same pan until slightly golden. Add in the prepared sauce mixture, and let this boil for about a minute or until it reduces into a sticky sauce.
• Return the cooked shrimp to the pan and toss to coat in the sauce.
• Top with green onions or sesame seeds.

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