Living in the midwest, I rarely have the opportunity to eat fresh seafood. The seafood around here, for the most part, has to be flown in and is often frozen during that process. So when I travel any where that may be near to a coast, I'm all about utilizing that opportunity to indulge in fresh seafood.
One place that Ben and I are lucky enough to call a second home is Sanibel Island, Florida. Off the coast of Ft. Myers Beach, Sanibel offers some of cleanest beaches in all of Florida, which makes it the perfect destination for shelling and fishing. There are two restaurants on the island that Ben and I spend a lot of time debating which has the best peel and eat shrimp. Ben is a huge fan of "Doc Ford's," a classic Sanibel Island staple. Their recipe consists of butter, chili sauce, garlic, lime and cilantro. I tend to favor the shrimp basket from "Lazy Flamingo." This shrimp is steamed in beer, seasoned with Old Bay and served with cocktail sauce.
We traveled to Sanibel for Valentine's Day and made pit stops to both of the locations. And... I was eventually convinced that the Yucatán shrimp is more flavorful than the other. Fine, he wins this one. I've included the recipe for the Yucatán shrimp below, just in case you want to give it a shot at home!
Yucatán Shrimp (recipe for 1 lb. of shrimp)
1 stick of butter
1 jalapeño
2 tbsp of Sambal chili paste
2 tbsp of minced garlic
1 lime
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro (optional)
1 lb. raw of shell-on shrimp
1. On the stove, steam 1 lb. of raw shell-on shrimp for 5-10 minutes or until pink.
2. While the shrimp are steaming, combine 1/2 of a stick of butter, minced jalapeño, Sambal chili sauce, garlic and the juice of 1 lime. Place ingredients in a small pot and cook on low heat until the butter melts and the flavors are combined.
3. Add the rest of the butter as needed to reduce the spiciness of mixture.
4. Place the cooked shrimp in a bowl and pour the butter mixture over the shrimp. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. 5. Add cilantro to the shrimp mixture (optional) and serve.
6. For the full effect, toast some french bread and use the left over butter mixture as a dip.
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