If you ever come to my house and look in the freezer, you'll always find a bag of individually quick frozen (IQF) shrimp. Whenever jumbo / colossal deveined shrimp goes on sale, I stock up! Shrimp is one of those quick thawing, easy to cook proteins that makes a delicious meal. These days, when the shrimp is on sale, it's about the same price or less than beef and I buy a bag for future use. This easy shrimp salad with all purpose seasoning is one way to turn a regular salad into an amazing one. Here I showcase how easy sauteed shrimp can be made with the addition of Sammy Wong's Kitchen's all-purpose seasoning.
Tips for making easy shrimp salad with all purpose seasoning.
Shrimp
Shrimp size
The shrimp is the focal point of this salad (and is usually the focal point of most dishes) so it has to be good and appealing! My favorite shrimp size is under 16 count. Shrimp are sold according to how many shrimp per pound. These large shrimp can be bought frozen in bags.
Size | Count Per Pound |
| Extra Colossal | U/10 |
| Super Colossal | U/12 |
| Colossal | U/15 |
| Extra Jumbo | 16/20 |
| Jumbo | 21/25 |
| Extra Large | 26/30 |
| Large | 31/35 |
| Medium Large | 36/40 |
Buying big shrimp not only reduces the amount of work needed to clean or butterfly the shrimp, but also gives your salad a "wow" factor. I also find that the bigger shrimp have less tendency of being mushy. As for sauteeing butterflied shrimp. It's less work to saute individual, big shrimp rather than a lot of smaller shrimp. So, pay a little more for larger shrimp for this recipe, because in the end, there's more work and the shrimp ends up being overcooked!
De-veined, De-shelled, Shell-on.
I definitely prefer de-veined shrimp, but it's not difficult to de-vein your own shrimp. When butterflying the shrimp, it does require cutting the shrimp deeper along its spine so that it can be split in half and butterflied.
De-shelled or shell-on shrimp is personal preference. I actually like to suck and eat the shells because not only is it full of flavor, but it is also full of calcium! My husband doesn't like the shell so I will sometimes remove the shell for him and freeze the shells for future use. These shells make excellent seafood stock for soups or paella.
Cooking the shrimp
Don't overcook shrimp! When shrimp is overcooked, it is tough and chewy! Raw shrimp is translucent. When it cooks, the shrimp shells and outer surface turns slightly orange and the meat turns white. As soon as the meat turns color, remove from the heat. When sauteeing butterflied shrimp, the tails will be in the air so make sure you press them down so the heated surface will cook the shrimp.
When sauteeing shrimp, combine the butter and olive oil in a 1:1 ratio. The butter provides flavor and the olive oil helps increase the smoke point of the mixture.
Dressing the salad
Because the shrimp is so tasty and with the garlic bits and the butter, olive oil mixture, a very light vinaigrette or plain balsamic vinegar and good olive oil is all this salad needs.
Enjoy and bon appetit. Let me know if you've made this salad and what do you think?
GRILLED SHRIMP WITH ALL PURPOSE SEASONING
Ingredients
- 8 jumbo shrimp Buy deveined shrimp. Shell on or de-shelled shrimp is your choice.
- 1 tsp SWK all-purpose seasoning
- 1 Tbsp lemon
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves fresh chopped garlic
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- balsamic vinegar and olive oil As a dressing or use a vinaigrette dressing
- Salad mix Add other vegetables of choice.
Instructions
- Rinse shrimp and cut along the spine to butterfly shrimp.8 jumbo shrimp
- Add seaoning, lemon juice and olive oil.1 tsp SWK all-purpose seasoning, 1 Tbsp lemon, 1 Tbsp olive oil
- Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- In a saute pan over medium heat, heat olive and butter.1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp butter
- Add garlic.2 cloves fresh chopped garlic
- Spread shrimp apart and lay them on the pan butterflied side down.
- Press down tails to ensure they are cooked.
- Once the flesh turns from translucent to white, flip over the shrimps.
- Allow to cook, making sure not to overcook.
- Top the salad with the cooked shrimp, crispy garlic pieces and butter / olive oil.Salad mix
- Drizzle with additional balsamic vinegar and good olive oil or a vinaigrette salad dressing of your choice.
- Enjoy!