Coconut Pineapple Shrimp
Sometimes our recipes are inspired by events, sometimes they’re reasons to try new ingredients or techniques, and sometimes they just need to use up what’s in the fridge. This one is a bit different. This is a little bit of all three. We bought a pineapple because it was on sale and paired it with some other ingredients that we wanted to clear out. It absolutely worked.
Pineapple and I have a weird relationship. On one hand – it’s absolutely delicious. It’s sweet and just crunchy enough and its smell takes me right back to Hawaii. At the same time, I have made plenty of pineapple meals that have been just awful. Something about trying to pair such a strong sweet flavour with savoury dishes is a recipe for disaster. But you, dear reader, need not fear! You can learn from my mistakes and only cook the tasty one!
The basic method behind this dish is simple. Start with a base of garlic, onion, and ginger. Add some turmeric and chili to add some extra flavour. Then come the heavy hitters, coconut milk and pineapple, that really shine through in the final product. This gives you your sauce, to which you can add whatever you’d like!
The key I’ve found when cooking with pineapple, or any other sweet base like oranges or mangoes, is not to panic when you first taste the sauce and it’s too sweet. Too many times I’ve had my first taste of something and started madly adding ingredients trying desperately to cover the taste. At best this ends up with a muddled mess of clashing flavours, at worst my carefully planned meal is replaced by a frozen pizza. The sweetness will naturally subside as the dish cooks, flavours blend, and the sauce is mixed with other ingredients.
If you get to the end and the final product is still too sweet for you there are still some remedies. A bit of extra acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice, can help balance the dish. Some extra vegetables or stock can dilute it. Don’t forget, things get less sweet as they cool down (think about ice cream when it melts, it gets much sweeter!). So if you’re tasting it piping hot out of the pan, keep this in mind.
Hopefully all this talk hasn’t scared you off, because this dish is worth it! Although it only uses half a pineapple, so I’ll have to make another sweet dish soon!
- 4 for dinner
- 20 minutes
- 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 thai chile, chopped
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 can (400 mL) coconut milk
- 1/2 fresh pineapple, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
- 5 large bell peppers, chopped
- 1 lb frozen peeled shrimp, thawed
Directions
- Cook onion, garlic, ginger, and chili in coconut oil over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add coconut milk, fish sauce, and pineapple and bring to a simmer.
- Season to taste with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. If you’re unsure how sweet you want it, skip this step until the end.
- Add chopped peppers and shrimp. Cook at a low simmer until shrimp are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning as desired. Adding salt will make it sweet, adding lemon juice will make it sour and less sweet.
- Serve over rice or noodles.
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