Shrimp Mozambique is a bracing dish of shrimp bathed in a buttery, garlicky, peppery sauce (think spicy shrimp scampi) with roots in Portugal's history in southeast Africa, where Portuguese colonists cultivated the piri-piri pepper that traditionally gives this dish its heat. We wanted our version to come together quickly and have all the character and flavor of the original. As a stand-in for the hard-to-find piri-piri pepper, we turned to our favorite all-purpose hot sauce, Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce. Like many of the imported piri-piri sauces we tried, this cayenne pepper sauce is a puree of peppers, salt, vinegar, and oil. To give it the body and balance of those piri-piri sauces, we blended the Frank's with olive oil, garlic, parsley, paprika, and torn bread. After sautéing some onion and a healthy dose of garlic, we added white wine for crisp acidity. We then added the shrimp, and when they were just opaque, we stirred in our pepper sauce and a couple of tablespoons of butter to bring everything together.
Notes
- We prefer untreated shrimp—those without added sodium or preservatives such as sodium tripolyphosphate. Most frozen E-Z peel shrimp have been treated (the ingredient list should tell you). If you're using treated shrimp, do not sprinkle the shrimp with salt in step 2.
- We developed this recipe with Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, which is similar to the piri-piri sauce called for in the traditional recipe.
- Serve with crusty bread or over white rice.
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ slice hearty white sandwich bread - torn into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 2 garlic cloves - chopped
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Shrimp:
- 2 pounds extra-large shrimp - 21 to 25 per pound, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
- salt - to taste
- pepper - to taste
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 3 garlic cloves - sliced thin
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter - cut into 2 pieces
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 4 cups cooked rice - to serve
Instructions
For the sauce:
- Process all ingredients in blender until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of blender jar as needed.
Season the shrimp and cook the aromatics:
- Sprinkle shrimp with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper; set aside.
- Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
- Add onion and ½ teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add wine and bring to boil. Cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
Cook the shrimp and serve:
- Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until opaque and just cooked through, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in butter and sauce and cook until butter is melted and sauce is heated through, about 1 minute.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 583kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 36gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 301mgSodium: 1764mgPotassium: 461mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1344IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 172mgIron: 2mg