Orange flavor is associated with winter, end-of-year celebrations and happy family gatherings. Oranges have that unique ability to complement many dishes, plus they are packed with vitamin C and various phytochemicals, such as flavonoids and carotenoids. Therefore, there is no reason to deprive yourself, provided that you do not have a genuine allergy or sensitivity to them. A word of caution here: use organic oranges whenever possible, especially if you zest them, as orange peel has a porous structure, which makes it a perfect home to various chemicals, notably pesticides and herbicides. You can use this organic orange peel if oranges are out of season and you can’t find organic oranges in your area.
Personally, I like shrimps to be hot and spicy – I used to make them with chili powder before! Now, on the AIP, chili is out of the question, so I’ve got to explore some other options. Luckily, garlic and ginger are on the list to eat and, therefore, spicy shrimps are still a good option. Spicy shrimps with orange flavor sounded delicious to me and I jump started on this recipe. Initially, it came out too orangey, but in a number of trials I managed to balance the flavors.
- 1 pound shrimps, peeled
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger powder*
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil**
- Coriander leaves for garnish
- For sauce:
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ⅓ cup bone broth (or water)
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- Bring water to a rolling boil and cook the shrimps over medium heat for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on their size.
- Drain the shrimps in a colander and pour cold water over them to stop the cooking process, set aside.
- Whisk all the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- In a non-reactive skillet preheat the coconut oil over medium high heat.
- Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant (about 30 seconds), add the ginger powder and turmeric and cook for one more minute or until everything is tender crisp.
- Add the earlier prepared sauce to the skillet, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the shrimps, increase the heat to medium-high and cook stirring for one more minute.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with cauliflower rice.
**You can use ghee if not on the AIP
Maria is the blogger behind the Zesty Paleo website. As a Hashimoto's patient for more than a decade, Maria has constantly been taking steps to improve her quality of life, including nutrition and lifestyle choices.
The one problem in this recipe is that the shrimp should not be precooked by boiling them in water. They take such a short time to cook in a frying pan and can easily be done when they are added to the sauce at the end of the process. I wish I had listened to my instincts instead of following the directions here because I ended up with overcooked, rubbery shrimp when I precooked them and that was a waste of a very expensive ingredient and time spent pre-boiling them. I was left disappointed.
So I made this w/ a few changes. I used minced ginger instead of ground ginger. I used soy instead of coconut aminos. I only had the zest of one orange which was about 1/2 of what the recipe called for. The 2 Tbl orange juice came from 1/2 the zested orange. Living in a small town, coriander leaves were not an option so I sliced up some spring onions for garnish.
I cooked the shrimp in the sauce & that turned out well.
Thanks for the inspiration.