With Memorial Day firmly behind us, grilling season is officially underway for the summer. I’ll be taking any chance I get to barbecue over some hot coals, but I have no illusions that, as an Upper West Side apartment-dweller, that won’t be very often. You may be in the same boat.
Luckily, your broiler is your friend. I’ve come to think that, aside from the intoxicating aromas of a charcoal grill, shrimp work best under the broiler. The powerful, direct heat provides a tidy window of time in which the shrimp cook but do not overcook, and you can also achieve some of that tasty char that the grill does so well. (The intoxicating smokiness of charcoal, however, only has one source.)
There are a few things you can do to help grill-ify your broiled shrimp, however. The first is making a compound butter with honey (among other things), both of which will help expedite the Maillard reaction on the quick-cooking shrimp and speed along those flavorful charred bits. And in terms of those “other things,” I like to include smoked paprika and smoked chili flakes (the Daphnis and Chloe brand is unimpeachable) to help approximate the smoke of a grill. Finally, I would always use jumbo shrimp, and slash them down the middle without fully butterflying to expose more flesh to the heat. This will make for even cooking.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Anchovy Trove to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.