Flavors
Grilled Sweet and Spicy Shrimp with a Texas Twist
Sweet and spicy might be my new favorite way to flavor shrimp. Sweet and spicy shrimp is not new, but I put my own twist on it here.
Sweet and spicy shrimp typically involves searing the shrimp in a pan and adding a sauce that is both sweet and spicy. Any combination of honey, hot sauce, soy sauce, gochujang, sugar, or sriracha can be used to make shrimp sweet and spicy. The possibilities are endless. The shrimp can be served as an appetizer or as a meal over rice or noodles and veggies.
My twist is to grill the sweet and spicy shrimp as you would expect in the Barbecuebible.com test kitchen. To elevate my shrimp, I incorporated ingredients from the Texas Pepper Jelly company.
Texas Pepper Jelly is known for its signature pepper jelly, Rib Candy™, spice rubs, and Craig’s BBQ Sauce. It offers a wide selection of each. Their pepper jellies combine the heat of habanero chiles and the sweetness of fruit. The original pineapple habanero is one of the most popular products. Other flavors include mango, cherry, and strawberry. The pepper jellies can be used as a dipping sauce, as a topping for cream cheese, and even added to casseroles.
Their Rib Candy can be directly applied to your ribs to create a candy-like glaze that has the perfect blend of sweet and heat. They also offer an all-sweet Rib Candy for those of you who can’t handle the heat. Their Rib Candy is not just for ribs, either. It can be used on pork, shrimp, grilled fruit, and chicken. But if you prefer chicken, Texas Pepper Jelly also makes “Bird Bath” to glaze your grilled chicken, turkey, or duck.
Texas Pepper Jelly also offers an excellent selection of seasonings. As everyone across Planet Barbecue knows, building flavor starts at the beginning of the cooking process, so try adding one of their seasonings to your next recipe.
Grilled Sweet and Spicy Shrimp
Here is how I incorporated their seasonings, pepper jelly, and Rib Candy into my sweet and spicy shrimp. I started with cubed pineapple and marinated it in the Pineapple Habanero pepper jelly. Next, I seasoned the shrimp with Texas Pepper Jelly’s Three Pepper seasoning and let it marinate. I then skewered 1 1/2 inch pieces of onion, red pepper, and mushrooms. Once the shrimp and pineapple marinated, they were threaded on flat metal skewers. I prefer flat skewers because they keep the food from spinning when cooking.
Once my gas grill was heated to high, I placed the pineapple and veggie skewers on the grill. Once the pineapple started to caramelize, I added the shrimp to the grill. I knew the shrimp would cook faster than the pineapple and veggies. The shrimp were seared for 30 seconds and then turned and glazed with the Pineapple Rib Candy. After 30 seconds, I turned the shrimp and glazed the opposite side. Total cooking time for the shrimp was about three minutes. I also glazed the veggies with the Pineapple Rib Candy.
The sweet and spicy shrimp and pineapple would make a great appetizer, but I decided to make it a meal and served the skewers with veggies and rice.
The Pepper Jelly added nice heat to the caramelized, juicy, and naturally sweet pineapple. The Three Pepper seasoning added flavorful heat to the shrimp. The Pineapple Habanero Rib Candy enhanced the sweetness of the shrimp, and then came the delayed but enjoyable heat of the habanero. The perfect bite was the shrimp and pineapple together. It was a blend of sweet and juicy pineapple with the snap of the spicy shrimp.
Thank you to the Texas Pepper Jelly for sending me their products to enjoy. If you are looking to elevate the flavor of your cooking on the grill Texas Pepper Jelly has you covered. Try one or all of their products.
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