Camarao Con Coco
De Arbol (Capsicum Annuum) means tree like in Spanish. The plant has thick, upright, woody stems and the chile itself is narrow, curved and bright red in color. Believed to be closely related to the pequin, the De Arbol is thin fleshed, with tannic, smoky, grassy flavor and searing heat. This chile has a heat range of 7.5 on the heat scale of 1-10. De Arbol Chiles are comparable to a Cayenne Pepper. Scoville heat units 15,000 to 30,000.
Suggested Use:
De Arbol is a hot chile and a staple in Southwest kitchens. Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish. Be adventurous and add them to your next stew or chili along with the other spices Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish.
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh or frozen medium shrimp (41/50)
2 tsp. lime juice
1 chile de arbol, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium, chopped Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
salt
snipped fresh parsley or cilantro
Instructions:
To prepare the shrimp:
Thaw the shrimp, if frozen. Peel and devein them, then rinse and pat dry the with paper towels. In a medium bowl, combine the shrimp, lime juice, half of the finely chopped chile pepper and half of the garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste, toss to coat, then cover and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
To make the sauce:
In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the sweet pepper, onion, the remaining chile pepper and remaining garlic in hot oil for about 10 minutes or until tender. Add the tomato, coconut milk and tomato paste, then bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. Season to taste with salt. Set aside and keep warm.
To grill the shrimp:
Thread the shrimp onto four long metal skewers.** For a charcoal grill, grill the skewers on the greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 5-8 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque, turning once halfway through grilling. (For a gas grill, preheat the grill. Reduce the heat to medium and place the skewers on a greased grill rack over heat. Cover grill as above.)
To serve:
Transfer the sauce onto a platter or individual dinner plates and place the shrimp skewers on top. Sprinkle with some snipped parsley or cilantro.
Yields 4 servings.
Recipe from Better Home and Gardens Magazine.