My family and I went to beautiful Hawaii a couple weeks ago. We absolutely love going to the islands. This time I wanted to step away from the tourist areas and make this trip a culinary adventure. We still did a lot of hiking, beach going, activities with the kiddos and all the touristy things you can imagine but every “expedition” included a couple stops at local eateries, restaurants, food trucks or Hawaiian must-go spots so we got to sample a lot of the delicious food from the islands.
One of my favorite dishes was the so called garlic shrimp. According to Yelp, the best place to sample it is at Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck in Haleiwa. Don’t let the looks fool you. The truck has been “decorated” with sharpie all over but the food they serve is delicious.
Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck @ Haleiwa, HI
We tried garlic shrimp in other parts of Oahu but this was the best and the reviews confirm it. Having said that, there is always room for improvement and, although I liked the shrimp, I was not overly impressed with it so, when we came back home I tried to replicate the dish and make it better.
Do you know that feeling when you eat something and it transports you to a place and time full of memories? I call it “Culinary Déjà Vu”, well, that happened to me after making this dish at home.
- 3 heads Garlic
- 5 tablespoons Olive Oil (divided)
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 2 Myer Lemons
- ½ teaspoon Coarse Hawaiian Sea Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ¼ cup White Wine
- 1½ lbs Shrimp
- Slice off the tops of two heads of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and roast at 400 F for 35 minutes or until soft. Let cool and squeeze out the roasted garlic into a small bowl
- Mash the roasted garlic and and mix with a teaspoon of olive oil. Set aside
- Mince 10 cloves of fresh garlic finely
- Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the remaining olive oil, 2 tablespoons butter and minced raw garlic. Sautée the garlic, until softened and caramelized.
- Add white wine, roasted garlic, paprika, remaining butter, and the juice of one lemon. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook on med-low until the sauce develops
- Add the shrimp to the pan in a single layer, turn the heat to medium and cook the shrimp for 3 to 5 minutes
- Turn the shrimp over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat
- Toss shrimp to coat with garlic sauce. Serve with white rice and a lemon wedge
If you are not a fan of shrimp you can toss a ball park hot dog in the sauce. It’s delicious stuff!!!
I love shrimp if you like too, you should try it. Yum