Jump to recipeThat very question will keep me up tonight.
Who loves shrimp, raise your hand? (I’m raising my hand.) Summer’s on its way, which means barbecues, company, good times…and skewers on the grill. I think this summer, I’m going to try to come up with as many ways to use a skewer as I can. I LOVE things on skewers: shrimp, chicken satay, chunks of grilled veggies. There’s just something so complete about it. You can grab a skewer off a tray, eat whatever’s on it, and feel like you’ve eaten something special. And you can stop there. Or, if you’re like me, you can repeat that process forty-nine times throughout the evening, and you’ll STILL feel like you’ve eaten something special! Skewers are great like that.
This recipe is so easy, and it’s one of those things that’s not dependent on precise quantities and measurements, or even ingredients. You just throw some storebought teriyaki sauce into a dish, then start adding whatever you’d like to add. Then you marinate the shrimp for a couple of hours, stick ’em on a skewer with a chunk of—yes, canned—pineapple, grill ’em up, and serve ’em to what will soon be a roomful of very happy guests. It’s a familiar flavor—who doesn’t recognize the pineapple/teriyaki combination?—but what you add to the marinade can make it extra special…and something all your own.
Now let’s start off our day right and make some Pineapple Skewered Shrimp! Or is it Skewered Pinapple Shrimp? Oh, never mind.
The Cast of Characters: Peeled, deveined, jumbo shrimp, teriyaki sauce, garlic, sugar, canned pineapple with reserved juice, green onion. Other optional ingredients: red pepper flakes, chopped fresh ginger, lime zest…the world is your oyster!
Begin by washing, then peeling and deveining the shrimp (unless they’ve already come that way.) I just pull off the peel first, then run my fingernail down the back side, gently scraping open the back and removing the disgusting vein. I make sure my fingernails are spic & span, of course. (Normal people might opt for a knife, but I can’t be bothered with that step. We were born with fingernails for a reason, people—they’re supposed to be our tools.)
Be sure to save the shells in a Ziploc in the freezer. You’ll need ’em when you want to make some seafood stock.
And no, Martha didn’t tell me to say that.
Start by pouring 1/2 to 1 cup of teriyaki sauce into a dish. How much you use depends on how many shrimp (“shree-yulmp”, to you Southern folks) you use.
Slice up 2 or 3 green onions and throw them in.
And maybe a little sugar, if you’re feeling particularly naughty. I added about 3 tablespoons.
I always like to add a lot of chopped garlic. This was about three cloves, but feel free to load it up to your heart’s content.
Now add a little juice from the pineapple chunks. Whew! We’re talkin’ suh-WEET! I took a little sip of the stuff and I just about went into an insulin meltdown. I also splashed in a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice, to cut the sweetness a bit. I also threw in a dash of salt.
It’s now that you can add in any or all of the following: red pepper flakes, chopped fresh ginger, lime zest (mmm, yummy), even some chopped jalapenos! Hey, I’m not the least bit afraid of mixing ethnicities when I cook. Rules don’t apply to me.
When it’s mixed to your satisfaction, throw in the peeled/deveined shrimp.
Stir the shrimp around to coat.
Now cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours. Several hours is okay, too.
When you’re ready to fix ’em up, thread them onto a wooden skewer like this. Moving the shrimp from left to right, stick the skewer through the back of the tail, then stick one pineapple chunk onto the skewer, then finish by threading it through the other side of the shrimp.
And that’s why I have photos with my recipes. I’m incapable of vocalizing coherent instructions.
Anyway, keep doing…whatever I did up there in the photo…until all your shrimp are skewered.
You can either put several shrimp on one long skewer, or if you’re feeling fancy, you can do singles.
I’m not feeling fancy.
And speaking of fancy, OKAY…I SUPPOSE in a perfect world you COULD use a FRESH pineapple. But again…well, the ranch is not a perfect world.
Now it’s time to fire up the grill! You can use the outdoor grill, or the indoor grill, or a grill pan like this one. Also, you could use the broiler in your oven. Whatever floats your boat!
Get it? Boat? Shrimp? Shrimp Boat? Man, I’m headed for real hilarity today.
When the grill is nice and hot, drizzle on some olive oil.
Then put the skewers on to cook.
A minute or two later, flip them to the other side.
Then let ’em go for another minute or two…
And flip ’em over again. You want to get that nice black-grill effect here and there.
When they’re done, remove them to a plate.
Notice how the shrimp, as they cooked, wrapped tightly around the pineapple chunks?
That’s kinda how I act when someone tries to take away my Coffee Haagen Dazs. I just lie on the ground and wrap myself around it, locking my arms around it to protect my precious prize.
No, not really. But kinda.
That’s it! For dinner, these are great with rice. You can even boil the heck out of the leftover marinade, strain it, and drizzle some over the top. Or at a party, just throw a whole bunch of these skewers on a big platter. Guests will oooh and aaah and kiss you, even if you don’t particularly want them to.
That happened to me at a party once. Her name was Liza. It scared me so.
Love,
Pioneer Woman
