mulberryshoots

I remember reading a recipe for a broiled shrimp and green beans using Korean hot sauce a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t have any at the time so I waited for some to arrive on my Amazon conveyor belt! It’s called Korean chili gochujang sauce and I thought I’d open it today to make a marinade for some extra-large shrimp from the freezer and French green beans from Trader Joe’s.

As I recall, the recipe called for two tablespoons of the hot sauce, some soy sauce, grated garlic and fresh ginger root and honey.  I had a batch of homemade teriyaki sauce (soy, mirin, sake, sugar heated and cooled) and added a couple of tablespoons to the mix. Squeezed in some fresh lime juice. Sounds like a classic combo, doesn’t it? That recipe didn’t call for parboiling the beans, but as I make Asian green beans quite often, I find that it’s an essential step before finishing the beans either in the skillet or under the broiler. After trimming the ends, I boiled a handful of beans for about 15 minutes, drained them well, rinsing under cold water. When they had cooled, I dumped them into the plastic bin that held the marinade, shook them up and left them to absorb the sauce. Two thirds of the marinade had already been siphoned off for the shrimp in their shells.

The recipe called for heating the broiler and placing the baking sheet of beans and shrimp as close to the heat as possible. Instead, I think I’ll put it on a top level but not right up to the top. I’ll broil the beans first, turning them over with tongs as they cook. When they’re close to being done, I’ll place the shrimp on the sheet until just cooked. This meal might be a little messy to peel the shrimp from their shells, but I can guarantee you that the shrimps will be more tender with all the flavor of the shells than if cooked unshelled. But that’s our preference.

To go along with the heat in the shrimp and beans, I’m serving couscous with pine nuts at room temperature in a bowl. And to complement the meal, I made some fresh honey mango salsa: 2 peeled ripe mangoes, chopped red onion, fresh lime juice and fresh cilantro leaves – chilled in the fridge while everything else was cooking away.

Yum!