My family spent Independence Day eating the best darn grilled food. Alex’s idea although the fact that it was Independence Day yesterday was a mere coincidence. She just decided that we were going to have char-grilled food for lunch — grilled chili lime shrimps served with grilled pineapple rings and grilled naan that she made from scratch. If that’s not enough, she made chicken tikka too which we later transformed into chicken tikka masala.
The shrimps were seasoned lightly with nothing but salt and pepper. But, while on the grill, they were brushed with melted butter infused with minced garlic, ginger and chilies. Grilling time was extremely short — less than a minute per side — to make sure not to overcook the shrimps. Larger shrimps will require a bit more cooking though. So, don’t take “less than a minute per side” as something written in stone.
- 12 to 18 bamboo skewers
- 12 to 18 shrimps peeled and deveined
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 1/2 teaspoon bird's eye chilies finely sliced
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 teaspoon lime (or lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon honey
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Soak the bamboo skewers in water to prevent them from catching fire on the grill.
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Place the shrimps in a bowl. Add the salt and pepper. Toss. Set aside.
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Make the basting sauce by mixing together the garlic, ginger, chilies, melted butter, lime juice and honey.
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Thread the shrimps with the bamboo skewers. Depending on the size of the shrimps and the length of your skewers, you can have anywhere from three to eight shrimps per skewer. Remember not to thread too tightly so that the heat can touch every part of each shrimp.
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Grill the skewered shrimps over hot coals. Do not touch them during the first 45 seconds to allow the undersides to cook and char properly. Only bad cooks who want to look "impressive" (falsely at that) keep poking and turning anything and everything on the grill. Flip the skewers over after about a minute then grill the opposite sides for another 40 to 45 minutes.
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Brush the shrimps with the basting sauce several times on both sides.
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Brush them liberally again after you take them off the grill.
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Serve the grilled chili lime shrimps with rice, bread or by themselves.
