Faux Grilled Hoisin Shrimp - SHRIMP WEEK Day 4

Before I get into the recipe... Did you notice anything exciting in the photo above???


Look close between the food...

New plates... Bought just for photos for my food blog!  


No more of the groovy sixties colored Marcia Brady tribute melmac plates.


Now I have to go back and re-cook all of the food I have made since landing on the island so I can rephotograph.


So, since i have the next few hours planed, This is going to be a fast post, as this is an incredibly FAST recipe.  Rachael ray and her 30 minute meals would have time to spare with this.  But let me show off the plate one more time...

Marcia Brady tribute plates, we hardly knew ye...


But I digress... Mashed taters, snap peas, marinated mushrooms... And Hoisin Shrimp with sesame seeds!  Enough with the silly plates, let's get to the food!

Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at possibly the only and last bottle of Hoisin Sauce on the island.  There are 6 grocery stores on the island.  I spent most of the weekend going from store to store to find this common ingredient.  At the 4th store, I found this single bottle.  Shopping fun on St Thomas!


But, it is worth the effort.  Hoisin sauce is a Chinese dipping sauce.  The name comes from the Cantonese word for seafood, but the sauce is made from Sweet Potatoes and chili peppers.  A wonderful combination of sweet and spice.  


And it is so wonderful, this is all that I needed for the shrimp... I marinated 12 of the largest shrimp I could find at a reasonable price in a 1/2 cup of the sauce for 2 hours.

And then I set them up for "Faux" Grilling.  Wouldn't these look beautiful on a real grill.  Well, that won't stop me.  Skewer them as you see on the photo.  Using two sticks per set, I can balance them on the edges of a baking dish without them spinning.  I sprinkled on a bit of my sesame seed mixture of equal parts white and black sesame seeds with a bit of sea salt to taste on both sides!


And set the oven to broil...  Instead of a hot fire from below in "real" grilling, you are cooking with fire from above for "faux" grilling...

5 minutes per side to get the edges caramelized (lots of sugar in the Hoisin Sauce.  Also, the 5 minutes is just enough time to toast the sesame seeds, making them really pop!

Add your side dishes... Jackie has asked for more veggies recently... And you have a fast, easy and incredibly flavorful meal... REALLY GOOD!  Jackie's favorite so far during Shrimp Week!

Pop some wine, sit out on your deck, watch the sail boats go by and cheer on your favorites in the very competitive seniors pairs tennis every other night tournament!

And do you notice the deviled eggs above (sitting on the groovy Marcia Brady tribute plate)... Not your normal deviled eggs, but that's a post for another day!

Have a happy and safe Cinco de Mayo