Grilled Brined Shrimp with Mango Salsa
No shirt, no shoes, no problem!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: serves 4....okay, 2
Ingredients:
1 pound of jumbo shrimp (16-20 count)
1/3 cup kosher or sea salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cups ice
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 a red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons of minced red onion
1 tablespoon of minced fresh cilantro
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and minced
pinch of salt and pepper
Preparation:
1. Prepare the shrimp. If you can find peeled and deveined shrimp, and you have the extra cash to pay for them, by all means do it. It is quite the time saver. But if you have to (or want to) do it yourself, here is what I do. I like to grill my shrimp "butterflied" so using a sharp knife, I peel them, slice open the back, remove the vein (read, intestinal tract) and open the shrimp like a book, taking care not to break it in half. For more specific instructions on how to prep shrimp check here. His cute accent doesn't hurt either....
2. Make the brine. Place the salt, sugar, water and ice in a large bowl. Gently submerge the shrimp in the brine and let them sit for 30 minutes. This would also be a good time to soak any wooden skewers in a separate bowl of water so they don't catch fire on the grill.
3. While the shrimp is brining, make the mango salsa. If you need instructions on how to peel and cube a mango look here. But basically you cut around the big, hairy pit so that you have large hunks of mango. Score the flesh into a grid pattern, invert the flesh so that the cubes pop out and remove the skin with a sharp knife. You will have little cubes of mango that way. So, place your cubes of mango into a small mixing bowl. Add the onion, cilantro, bell pepper and jalapeno and stir. Squeeze in the lime juice and drizzle over the oil. Stir to combine. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and taste for seasoning.
4. Remove the shrimp from the brine and put two or three on each skewer. Spray a grill (or grill pan) with cooking spray and heat to medium high. Grill the shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side or until just cooked through. They will have turned pink and be and opaque throughout. Remove from heat and serve immediately with mango salsa, over a bed of rice if desired.
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