Spicy Shrimp on a Summer's Evening

Yesterday was a good day since it was Savannah Food Co-Op Pickup Day. One of the additional items I ordered was locally-caught Wild Georgia Shrimp, from Dubberley's Seafood. The shrimp are flash frozen on the boat and are as good as fresh when thawed. They arrived ready to cook, peeled and de-veined. I didn't waste any time threading these suckers onto a skewer.

And then I whipped up a marinade made of lime juice and zest, sugar, salt, fish sauce and Asian chili paste:


After about a three-minute grilling, we had this:

And this:

Sorry, no leftovers. But if you want to recreate this spicy deliciousness at home, you can.

For the Sauce
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. finely grated lime zest, plus 1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1 T. Asian chili paste
1 T. Asian fish sauce

For the Shrimp:
Safflower oil, for brushing (I used canola)
36 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Coarse salt

1. Soak 12 wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to prevent charring.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce by bringing sugar and lime juice to a simmer in a small saucepan. Cook until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime zest, fish sauce and chili paste. Season with salt.
3. Make the shrimp: heat grill to high and brush grates with oil. Thread 3 shrimp onto each skewer; season with salt. Divide sauce in half; reserve half for serving. Grill shrimp for 1 minute; brush with sauce. Flip and grill for 1 more minute, brush with sauce again. Flip and grill, brushing occasionally with sauce, until opaque, 1 to 3 minutes more. Serve with reserved sauce.