House recipe 06 · Pepper Shrimp
Ten-Minute Pepper Shrimp
Pepper shrimp is the cutter that disappears first at any lime — hot shrimp, sharp lime, enough pepper to keep the rum honest. Our version skips a separate glaze recipe entirely: the pepper sauce is the glaze, thinned with lime juice and pulled together with cold butter, because Scotch bonnet, mustard, and green papaya already carry everything a pan sauce needs. Start to finish, this is the fastest cooking we do.
- Serves
- 4, or 6 as a cutter
- Active
- 20 minutes
- Total
- 35 minutes
The cook
- 01
Season the shrimp
Pat the shrimp completely dry, then toss with the salt, black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of pepper sauce. Let them sit 15 minutes at room temperature while you slice the garlic and juice the limes.
The sauce moment
- 02
Heat the pan hard
Set a heavy skillet over medium-high heat with the oil until it shimmers. A pan that is not hot enough will steam the shrimp instead of searing them.
- 03
Sear in batches
Lay the shrimp in a single layer with space between them, working in two batches. Cook 1 to 2 minutes per side until just pink but slightly underdone, then move them to a plate.
- 04
Bloom the garlic
Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic to the fat left in the pan. Cook 30 to 45 seconds, stirring, until pale gold and fragrant — no further, it turns bitter fast.
- 05
Build the glaze
Add the pepper sauce and lime juice and scrape up everything stuck to the pan. Let it bubble about 30 seconds until it tightens slightly.
The sauce moment
- 06
Mount with butter
Pull the pan off the heat and swirl in the cold butter a cube at a time until the glaze turns glossy and coats a spoon. Return the shrimp and any collected juices and toss over low heat until every shrimp is covered, about 30 seconds.
- 07
Finish and serve
Shower with scallion and chadon beni and serve straight from the pan, with lime wedges and bread for the glaze. Set the bottle on the table for anyone who wants more.
From the family
Pull the shrimp from the sear when they curl into a loose C — a tight O means overcooked. They finish in the glaze, so undercooking on the first pass is the whole trick.
This one needs the jar.
1 tbsp tossed with the shrimp before they hit the pan · 3 tbsp as the base of the pan glaze, thinned with lime juice and mounted with cold butter · The bottle at the table for those who want more