I love this dish! Mainly because it’s tasty but also because it is so much fun to set fire to panful of shrimps. If you never flambéed before, give it a try – it’s unexpectedly easy. Just be sure that there is nothing flammable around.
Flambé is a cooking procedure in which alcohol is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames. The word meamd „flamed” in French. (Wikipedia)
You can skip flambéing but the shrimps will loose their rich and deep flavor.
The secret of any dish is in fresh produce! Honey shrimps with cognac just confirms the rule. Fresh seafood, best quality honey and (!!!) the best cognac you have. Personally I prefer using HENNESSY for any recipes with brandy.
My first try of cooking shrimps at home was controlled by a professional chef from Australia, who actually brought all ingredients with him and announced that “today we are cooking honey shrimps with cognac”. Before allowing me to touch anything he told me a long story how they catch shrimps in Australia at night and how important to have the freshest produce!
Then he presented me Hennessy and said that I SHOULD ALWAYS ALWAYS use ONLY THE BEST alcohol in any recipe. This will guaranty the perfect taste of even the simplest food.
I should confess that I didn’t drink alcohol so my knowledge about it was very general. I still don’t drink alcohol but I have studied a lot of literature and talked to many experts to find out as much as I can about this partucular topic.
The third ingredient is HONEY. The best one for honey shrimps with cognac is acacia honey as it gives nice aroma and it is not too sweet.
And then you are just following the recipe which is really easy.
Honey shrimps with cognac
Ingredients:
- 500 g shrimps
- 3 cloves garlic
- A pinch of hot chilli pepper flakes (to taste)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)
- Salt
- 4 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 50 ml cognac or brandy
Cooking method:
1.Toss the raw, peeled shrimps with chopped garlic, hot chili pepper flakes, salt, vegetable oil and lemon juice.
2. Heat the butter in a frying pan, add shrimps and fry for 2-3 min. When they just start rolling up, add honey and fry for 2-3 minutes. Then pull off the heat and pour in cognac, put it back over the heat, and using a match let alcohol fumes come in contact with the flame.
3. Once the shrimps are engulfed in flames, just shake the pan and wait until the fire goes down. After being flambéed, the shrimps get a slightly caramelized coating and the sauce becomes thickened.
4. Serve with croutons or salad leaves.
Bon Appetite!
