Spiced Shrimp in Lemon-Ginger Sauce Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Author Notes

This dish is a combination of two recipes. The spiced shrimp is my go-to recipe for a shrimp co*cktail, which I learned many years ago from a Chinese cookbook by Sunset. It is delicious, aromatic, and with a pungent co*cktail sauce makes a perfect appetizer. I usually make the second recipe, for the Lemon-Ginger Sauce, to serve over roasted or fried fish or chicken, and use chicken or fish stock for the liquid. I have to say that the idea to marry these two recipes and serve it hot as an entrée was a successful and a delicious one. You also can make this recipe with lobster tails, crab, or scallops. It's a saucy way to serve shrimp over pasta, white or brown rice, or just with fresh crusty bread for dipping and enjoying the wonderful sauce. —Kukla

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: Kukla is a longtime Food52 member, and she has the swag to show it: twenty-four of her recipes are Community Picks and three of them are Contest Winners.
WHAT: A saucy way to serve shrimp over pasta.
HOW: Simmer shrimp with warm spices to make a stock, and then use that stock to make a lemony sauce. Toss the sauce with the shrimp and sop up every last bit with good bread.
WHY WE LOVE IT: Sauce, sauce, sauce! The shrimp and sauce combo sounded good, but I didn't realize just how good they would be together. You first taste the aromatics in the shrimp, followed by the buttery-lemony sauce, and end with a hit of heat from the cayenne. In order to get the smooth sauce in the photo, I had to strain the lemon-ginger combo after blitzing in the blender. The sauce was so good that I drank what was left in my bowl—all in the name of research, of course. —FrozenFoodie

What You'll Need

Ingredients

• For the Spiced Shrimp
• 1 poundlarge raw shrimp, unpeeled
  
• 2 tablespoonsminced fresh ginger
  
• 4 whole green onions, sliced in half
  
• 2 tablespoonsdry sherry
  
• 1 ¹/₂ teaspoonssalt
  
• 2 star anise
  
• 2 teaspoonswhole peppercorns
  
• 1 ¹/₂ cupswater
  

• For the Lemon-Ginger Sauce
• 2 large lemons, zested, white pith and seeds removed, thinly sliced
  
• 1 inch of peeled ginger, thinly sliced
  
• 1 tablespoonvegetable oil
  
• 1 cupshrimp stock, divided
  
• 1 tablespoonsugar
  
• Salt to taste
  
• ¹/₄ teaspooncayenne pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes)
  
• 2 teaspoonscornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
  
• 2 tablespoonsunsalted butter
  
• Fresh herbs, chopped, for garnish