Garlic Shrimp Made with HOT SPICE "Umakara"

Shrimp turn tough and shrunken because they are cooked too long. Two minutes per side. Cooked in their shells, they keep the moisture in the flesh from escaping.

HOT SPICE "Umakara" is six spices, and four of them carry the heat: chili, ginger, red Sichuan pepper and long pepper. Over that layers the citrus of dried mandarin peel. It dissolves into the fat of the garlic butter, coats the shrimp right down to the shells, and when you squeeze the lemon, the heat rides cleanly on the acidity.

It goes in after the heat is off. Added a little at a time, it lets you stop exactly where you like, so you can share the same plate with someone who doesn't handle heat well.

Total time: about 20 min

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• HOT SPICE "Umakara" — to taste (add a little at a time, up to your preferred aroma and heat)
• Shrimp (shell-on, large) — 12 (about 250 g)
• Garlic — 3 cloves
• Butter — 20 g
• Olive oil — 2 tbsp
• White wine — 1 tbsp (sake also works)
• Salt — 1/3 tsp
• Pepper — a pinch
• Lemon — 1/4
• Parsley (optional) — a little

Preparation

1. Cut a slit along the back of each shrimp's shell with kitchen scissors and remove the vein with a bamboo skewer. Leave the shells on.
2. Finely chop 2 of the garlic cloves and thinly slice the remaining 1.
3. Cut the lemon into wedges.
4. If topping with parsley, chop it roughly.

Instructions

1. Put the shrimp in a bowl, add the salt, pepper, 1 tbsp of the olive oil and the chopped garlic, mix, and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Put the other 1 tbsp of olive oil and the sliced garlic in a frying pan over low heat, and take the garlic out once its edges color. Burnt garlic turns bitter, so lift it out as soon as it takes on color.
3. Turn the heat to medium, add the shrimp with their marinade, and cook for 2 minutes per side. Cook them longer and the flesh shrinks and toughens.
4. Pour in the 1 tbsp of white wine, and once the alcohol has cooked off, add the 20 g of butter and let it melt.
5. Turn off the heat, then add HOT SPICE "Umakara" a little at a time, shaking the pan to coat the shrimp in the sauce, until the aroma and heat are where you like them.
6. Plate, and serve with the reserved garlic and the lemon. Top with the chopped parsley if you like. It is delicious as is, with nothing added.

If this is your first time, start with less and add more at the table. Tolerance for heat varies widely, so leaving the final call out of the frying pan is what lets everyone share the same plate.

Peel the shells off by hand as you eat. The sauce clinging to the shells is the most concentrated, so putting out small plates and wet towels makes the table easier.