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Being apart of a big family has its advantages and disadvantages.
I am one of seven kids. There’s mom and dad, and they been together forever – since my mom was fifteen and my dad was 18, three older brothers, two younger bothers and one little sister. And yes, I also have cousins galore.
This means I have family everywhere. This is personally one of my favorite advantages. When I am running low on inspiration they are who I turn to. I have family members in Canada (but he’s normally in Utah or Tahoe – actually he is really just all over the place – yes, Brendan), Florida, Vermont, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California.
This time though, I turned to an unlikely source.
One of my older brothers, Trevor. See Trevor and I? Well, we fight more than we get along, but I am pretty sure we would not be “us” if we didn’t fight. I mean he just gets on my nerves. I can’t help it. But I love him and I love where he is living.
Trevor’s living and working in California and we all know how people in California know how to eat some dang good food. I asked him what he has been eating and he said he’s broke, so not much. Surprise, surprise. And I am not trying to be mean, but the kid can’t save a dollar for the life of him. It’s just a known fact.
Anyway, he did say he has been loving Hawaiian foods and he told me about this place he goes to. It sounds awesome and I am jealous (oh, to live in a place with good restaurants and grocery stores that carry things like rhubarb in the spring – mine does not). He mostly told me about beefy dishes because he is mostly a beef and chicken only kind of guy, BUT he did get me thinking about Hawaiian food.
Like any normal person I spent the next two hours researching Hawaiian Shrimp Trucks which, FYI, are a huge thing along the shores of Hawaii.
Also FYI, I really want to go to Hawaii. Like today. Please, please, please today?
I looked at like a gazillion recipes and read like a gazillion descriptions regarding top shrimp trucks along the shores and somehow I came up with this super simple recipe for Garlic Lemon Pepper Butter Shrimp. Basically it is caramelized garlic in butter and lemon with some pepper that you toss together with shrimp. It’s the best thing ever. So tender, juicy and buttery.
You have to marinate the shrimp in olive and garlic for at least thirty minutes, but the longer the better. Then just sauté and smell the amazingness that is taking place. I served it just like they do in Hawaii – with rice, pineapple slices and a lemon wedge. Oh, and I think they leave the entire shell on the shrimp, but for easy eating purposes, I just left the tail shell on.
Hawaiian Shrimp Truck Special (Garlic Lemon Butter Shrimp).
Ingredients
- 1 pound raw tail on shrimp
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 lemons, juiced, divided
- 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Add the shrimp to a gallon size ziplock bag or medium size bowl. Add the olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, flour, cayenne pepper and pepper. Toss well to combine, seal the bag or cover the bowl and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or up 24 hours.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot use a slotted spoon to scoop the shrimp out of the marinade and into the hot skillet, season with salt and pepper. Make sure to scoop up all the garlic as well. Saute the shrimp until pink, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp from the pan leaving the garlic in the skillet. Add the salted butter and 1 teaspoon pepper (or more or less to your taste) to the skillet. Cook the garlic in the butter until it begins to caramelize and turn golden brown. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, the juice of 1/2 a lemon and zest if using. Drizzle with the warm garlic butter over the shrimp. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
So we could devour without pausing. Obviously.
Hi there, in the recipe you mention pepper twice, which pepper do you mean by that?
Yours sincerely
Alvin
HI there! I just mean regular black pepper. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I love this recipe so much! Have made it twice before, and every time, my family has loved it!
Thank you Dasha! I am really glad your family enjoyed this recipe!
OMG – had a hankering for some Hawaiian Shrimp Truck shrimp and this recipe was spot on – YUM!! Tasted just like the 5 Star Shrimp Truck – we must have eaten there 3-4 times our week in Oahu. Thanks so much!
I am so glad you loved this Kelly! Thank you so so much!
The shrimp had no flavor…very bland. Sorry, didnt care for it. We are a family of shrimp lovers, and we were all very underwhelmed.
Ah such a bummer. Sorry it wasn’t what you were looking for /:
Quick question about the recipe: It does specify the quantity of olive oil, just 1/4… I want to make sure I get this part right! Can you please clarify? Thank you 🙂
Hey Kim! So sorry about that, it is a 1/4 cup. Fixing the recipe now. Thanks so much and I hope you love this!
There’s a terrific amount of knowledge in this article!
Thank you!
Made this tonight. I only had an hour to marinate. Loved the light fresh flavors. I added a little bit more garlic and white ends of green onions along with the butter. Saved the green ends of onions as garnish. I love garlic so I’d add much more garlic next time and leave to marinate much longer.
Thanks for the lovely dinner 🙂
I’m A garlic lover as well! Sounds amazing! So happy you like it!! Thank you!
Just made this tonight! Tastes so amazing. I of course added more chopped garlic. I just love garlic! But thank you for this recipe! My family loved it !
Garlic is delicious!! Glad you loved it! Thanks Chelsea.
I made this tonight for the Hubs and I. And we loved it. I sprinkled it with toasted coconut on our plates, since I did not have any coconut for the rice. That was pure perfection. Thank you for the recipe.
Looks soooo good!!!!
How much is the olive oil? 1/4…?
Thanks!
Oops, sorry about that. It is 1/4 cup. Thanks!
I eat today those shrimps in Hawaii. And he was prapered them next yo me . So… I try to remember some of ingredients. In the skillet he warm up already prapered garlic butter, them shrimps , then white wine, sone spices , half and half… It was very delicious!
Wow, sounds awesome! 🙂
This recipe looks amazing. I am trying it for dinner right now! We travel to Hawaii every year for vacation and I was really craving the shrimp truck food. Thanks for finding the recipe and posting!
Hey Tieghan,
Can’t wait to try this recipe! It makes me drool and reminisce of Food Truck crawling, lol.
When you plan your trip to Hawaii (hopefully soon!) just know that the (famous) shrimp trucks are on the North Shore o f O’ahu…Giovanni’s is probably the most well-known, and a personal favorite!
If you do make it out to Hawaii and branch out to other islands, Kauai is great! We’ve our own little shrimp truck and lots of other nummy goodness…I’d be happy to make recommendations 🙂
aw! I will and THANK YOU!
I made it and will definitely make it again! The only thing was that I didn’t think I needed nearly that much butter! The shrimp sat in the sauce while it was served but I just dumped it down the sink after (maybe that’s cause I served the shrimp with pan fried spuds, steamed broccoli & corn on the cob? – no rice to sop up the sauce). I would make only half the “drizzle” next time 🙂
SO happy you loved this and sorry about the too much butter! Thanks!
DOESN’T ANYONE ACTUALLY WRITE A REVIEW OF THE RECIPE INSTEAD OF JUST TELLING THEIR GUESS OR HOW THE PICTURE LOOKS?? I DON’T REALLY CARE HOW YOU THINK IT LOOKS — I WANT TO KNOW AN ACTUAL REVIEW OF WHAT THE RECIPE MAKES TO DECIDE WHETHER IS IT IS WORTH MAKING!