To read of my travels, you might get the impression that for most of the last three years, I’ve done nothing but prowl night markets and food stalls. True, a lot of great grilling takes place at these markets, but you can also find some pretty amazing barbecue at luxury resorts. One such place is Amandari, a hotel built right into a rice paddy near the artist town of Ubud, Bali. There, a team of chefs makes Balinese grilled chicken, whole grilled fish with makrut lime leaves, and this grilled shrimp with fiery lemongrass sambal.
Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
Sambal:
6 (or more) Thai bird chiles or 2 (or more) serrano or jalapeño chiles (preferably red), seeded, coarsely chopped
or 2 (or more) serrano chiles
or jalapeño chiles (preferably red)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped shallots (about 8 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons chopped lemongrass (from bottom 4 inches of 2 large stalks)
6 macadamia nuts
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (or more) vegetable oil
1 cup water
Marinade and shrimp:
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons (or more) vegetable oil
3 pounds uncooked unpeeled large shrimp, or 2 1/2 pounds uncooked peeled large shrimp, deveined, tails left intact
or 2 1/2 pounds uncooked peeled large shrimp, deveined, tails left intact
Preparation
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For sambal :
Step 1
Combine 6 Thai bird chiles (or 2 serrano or jalapeño chiles) and next 12 ingredients in processor. Using on/off turns, blend until finely chopped and paste forms. If spicier sambal is desired, add more chopped chiles to taste and blend again until paste forms. Transfer sambal to small bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sambal and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, stirring constantly and adding more oil by tablespoonfuls if mixture is dry, about 7 minutes. Add 1 cup water; reduce heat to medium and simmer until most of water is absorbed but mixture is still creamy, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool. DO AHEAD:Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover sambal and chill.
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For marinade and shrimp:
Step 2
Whisk lime juice, 3 tablespoons oil, and 2 tablespoons sambal in small bowl. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk marinade before using, adding more oil by teaspoonfuls if marinade is thick.
Step 3
If using unpeeled shrimp, use kitchen scissors to cut shrimp shell along rounded back of tail; scrape out vein with tip of bamboo skewer or tip of small knife. Place peeled or unpeeled shrimp in large glass baking dish. Brush shrimp all over with marinade. Allow shrimp to marinate at room temperature at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
Step 4
Meanwhile, prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush grill rack with oil. Grill shrimp until just opaque in center, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer shrimp to platter. Rewarm remaining sambal and serve alongside for dipping or for spooning atop shrimp.
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Ingredient tip:
Step 5
Unpeeled shrimp cook up more succulent and flavorful but are a bit messier to eat than peeled shrimp (which you can use, if you prefer). For ease of preparation, the seafood department at some supermarkets sells uncooked unpeeled shrimp that have already been deveined.
How would you rate Grilled Shrimp with Fiery Lemongrass-Chile Sambal?
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AMAZING!! All the hard work…..WORTH IT!! My family & friends couldn’t stop raving about the delicious & colorful flavors. I served this with a jalapeno infused jasmine rice and a cucumber salad. Def going to make this again and include a mango sorbet.
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This dish got good reviews but IMO for the number of ingredients it is overlying complicated and the final product is underwhelming.
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I made this exactly as written, except I used only one jalapeno. My mistake! My family thought the sauce had no heat. Next time I will track down the Thai chiles and I won’t hold back, or I’ll use two serranos or jalapenos. I really loved the spices, though. I was afraid more heat would overwhelm the delicacy of the shrimp. 1.6 lbs of large shrimp were plenty for four people. I did not halve the sauce. I skewered them (with shells on) to make grilling easier.
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Oh my! Also raided my garden for the lemongrass and peppers. Used honey instead of brown sugar (I keep bees) Served it with plain basmati brown rice and grilled veggies, also from my garden. We loved it and the fragrance from my kitchen and patio was a bonus.
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So delicious. I made
it with homegrown
jalapenos and cherry
bomb peppers, and
served it with
coconut rice. The
sweet and the hot
balance nicely. -
I made this with skinned bone in chicken thighs. It turned out great; nice and spicy. Definitely will make again.
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Good recipe with
good flavors but not
the best thing I’ve
made. I followed
the recipe, but
reduced to 1 lb of
shrimp for just my
husband and I. I
halved the sambal
quantity and
probably could have
done 1/3 to match
the shrimp quantity.
I added a bit more
lemongrass, a
squeeze of lime
juice and a bit more
salt to get the
flavor I wanted. I
served the shrimp
with grilled veggies
(zucchini, poblano
and orange bell
pepper, eggplant)
and Caesar salad. -
Excellent. Make sure to use red chilies. It makes for a “better looking” sambal.
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Excellent! I added more peppers because I love the heat. Otherwise I did everything as specified in the recipe. I served it with basmati rice with pine nuts, this allowed us to eat more of the exquisite Sambal.
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A lovely change of pace from our favorite
Rosemary Garlic Shrimp (also on this site) –
and great way to use up the remaining
bunch of lemongrass in my fridge. Only
ingredient I was missing was the
macadamias – I
threw a few peanuts in just to replace the
texture. Will definitely do this again for a
summer dinner, but would also serve as an
appetizer. -
This dish has great flavor. I
thought I had turmeric in the
cabinet but didn’t so disappointedly had to leave it out. (I substituted
saffron with a pinch of paprika.)
The lemongrass I used was very
fibrous even after processing and
knowing that my spouse would find that detracting from the pleasure of the dish, I opted to strain off all the components. The resulting smooth sauce was amazing
and my husband said two or three
times how great it was! (But next time I would only strain half for him and save half as chunky for myself!) -
did as recipe specified,but omitted
nuts.it was exquisite.Make sure to brown
the paste a bit before adding too mch
water it cools the ginger and chilies
down a bit so all of the flavor are
released together -
This dish turned out
wonderful! I chopped
the fresh lemongrass
prior to the
processor. I
simmered in a heavy
cast iron skillet
adding oil when it
reached a pasty
consistency. I
cooked about 10
minutes though
called for about 7
mins., then added
water and reduced.
It’s a keeper -
I was excited to try this tonight as we love everything that goes into the sambal.
I am not sure if I did something wrong – the only thing I can think of is that I didn’t use enough lemongrass (I had 3 medium-small sized stalks), or if I didn’t cook the sambal long enough before adding water, but I wasn’t really crazy about the flavors. Wondering if it needed to just sit for a while to allow the flavors to meld?
However, wwhen the shrimp was marinated in the sambal, it was much better. It was more like we could smell the flavors rather than tasting them. We grilled the shrimp over charcoal using the marinade as directed in the recipe and used the rest of the sambal as a dip. Then it was fine, but it still felt like it was missing something. I was hoping someone else has tried this and see if they noticed the same thing or if it was just me.
I’d make this again – if I knew what to do a little differently. It just seemed too “sharp.” Maybe more brown sugar? Honey? I’m at a loss. -
Relatively easy, the sambal was delicious and very aromatic but it was difficult to really know the texture it should have ended up. Used unpeeled shrimp which helped keep the shrimp from drying out on the grill but also kept the marinade from really doing too much; probably no need to actually marinate the shrimp quite so much if using unpeeled shrimp as the sauce does most of the work. I also thought the sauce was a bit heavy on tumeric and the lemongrass didn’t really break down well in the food processor so there were inedible hard bits left in the sambal.