Garlic-Butter Shrimp over Zucchini Ribbons

This is not the North Shore truck pile. That plate is a mountain of shrimp in garlic butter and you eat it with your hands. This one is the same garlic-butter habit, but the zucchini ribbons take the job rice usually steals, they catch the butter, they wilt just enough, and they stay out of the way of the shrimp.

I’m Mark. I cook this when I want shrimp on a weeknight and I already have the Costco bag thawed. If you want the truck version without flour, make the Kahuku-style garlic shrimp instead. This is the quieter plate.

Yield: 2 servings  |  Prep: 12 minutes  |  Cook: 10 minutes  |  Total: about 22 minutes

Hawaii Grocery Notes

• Costco: frozen large shrimp (16-20 or 21-25), thaw overnight in the fridge or under cold water. Butter in the big pack. Zucchini when the tray looks firm, not soft.
• Times / Foodland: fresh zucchini (medium, straight ones peel into better ribbons). Garlic by the bag. Lemon. Parsley if you want it. Fresh shrimp at the counter when it looks better than your thawed bag.
• Don Quijote: garlic, chili pepper water, sometimes nicer zucchini. Walk past pre-sauced garlic shrimp and anything labeled “teriyaki shrimp.”
• No rice. No flour dredge. No sweet chili sauce in the pan.

Ingredients

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled, tails on or off, patted very dry
• 2 medium zucchini (about 1-1¼ lb total)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Black pepper
• Pinch of chili flakes or a few drops of chili pepper water (optional)
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)
• Lemon wedges at the table

Instructions

1. Ribbon the zucchini with a peeler or mandoline into long strips. Stop when you hit the seedy core; save the core for something else or discard it. Pat the ribbons dry. Wet zucchini steams and goes limp.
2. Season the shrimp lightly with salt and pepper. They need to be dry or they will boil in their own liquid.
3. Heat the avocado oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a wide skillet over medium-high until the butter foams. Add the shrimp in a single layer. Cook 1-2 minutes a side until just opaque and pink. Transfer to a plate. Do not cook them to rubber.
4. Drop the heat to medium. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. When it melts, add the garlic (and chili flakes if using). Stir 30-45 seconds until it smells like dinner, not until the garlic browns.
5. Add the zucchini ribbons. Toss in the garlic butter 1-2 minutes until they soften and take the sauce but still have a little bite. If the pan looks dry, a spoon of water : not cream, not flour.
6. Return the shrimp and any juices. Toss once. Taste. Salt if it needs it. Parsley on top. Lemon at the table. Eat it as the plate, the ribbons are the rice.

Kitchen-Estimate Macros (per serving)

Kitchen estimates only, not lab-tested. Calculated for 1 of 2 servings (half the shrimp, half the zucchini, half the butter). Shrimp size and zucchini water content vary.

Calories	Fat	Protein	Net carbs
~390	~22 g	~40 g	~6 g

Notes

• Hidden sugar: bottled garlic shrimp marinades, sweet chili, and many “garlic butter” sauces from a jar. Make the butter in the pan.
• If the zucchini is watery, cook the ribbons a minute longer uncovered so they shed moisture before the shrimp go back in.
• Yellow squash works the same way. Spaghetti squash is a different dish, do not swap it in and call it this recipe.
• Leftover shrimp is fine cold. Reheating past done turns it tough; warm the ribbons and add cold shrimp at the end if you must reheat.
• Same Costco shrimp bag as the Kahuku-style plate. Buy once, cook both in a week.

Mark Souza
Honolulu