Seared Shrimp With Kare-Kare Butter

Seared Shrimp With Kare-Kare Butter

By HAROLD VILLAROSA
Total time 15 minutes
Serves 4

Every Filipinx family has their own take on kare-kare, but they generally include peanut butter, achiote (annatto) seeds, and often a fermented shrimp paste called bagoong for extra flavor in the stew. Old-school Filipinx cooks make the sauce for it from scratch, but you can find store-bought versions, the best of which is Fila Manila Kare-Kare. It’s the star of this dish, where it cooks down with garlic, thyme, chicken broth, butter, hot sauce, and lemon juice into a glossy sauce for seared shrimp. This peanuty sauce is perfect with virtually any shellfish—try it with heads-on prawns or lobster if you want to go all in.

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

1⁄4 cup Fila Manila Kare-Kare Peanut
Sauce & Marinade
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined,
patted dry

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

3 Tbsp. grapeseed or vegetable oil,
divided

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp. finely chopped thyme
1⁄4 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
3⁄4 cup (11⁄2 sticks) unsalted butter,
cut into pieces

2 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Sliced chives and lemon wedges
(for serving)

Preparation

STEP 1

Season shrimp all over with salt
and pepper. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large
skillet over medium-high. Cook shrimp
in a single layer until bright pink and
just cooked through, about 2 minutes
per side. Transfer shrimp to a platter
and wipe out skillet (any browned bits
left in the pan are okay).

STEP 2

Cook garlic and thyme in same skillet over
medium-low heat, stirring constantly, just
until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in
broth, scraping up any browned bits stuck
to bottom of pan, then add kare-kare
sauce and whisk until smooth. Add butter
a piece at a time, whisking constantly
and combining completely before adding
the next piece. Once all of the butter has
been incorporated, whisk in hot sauce and
lemon juice. Taste kare-kare butter and
season with salt and pepper.

STEP 3

Spoon kare-kare butter over shrimp
and top with chives. Serve with lemon
wedges for squeezing over.

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