Spicy Shrimp Stack

There are a few items in this blog post that are linked to my Amazon storefront. If you happen to purchase them through my link, which would be so sweet, I will earn a small (& I mean small) commish. I’ve seen other bloggers add earning disclaimers like this one to blog posts before and if I’m not mistaken, there are legal reasons for that. So here I am doing the same! Now, onto the recipe you came for.

Spicy Shrimp Stack Recipe

Ingredients:

For the rice:

1 cup of white rice

Salt, sugar & rice vinegar to taste (see instructions below)

For the mango salsa:

1-2 avocados, cubed

1 mango, cubed

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

1-2 tsp chili lime seasoning (or tajin, or paprika)

For the shrimp:

I used frozen shrimp, about 3 cups I think (thawed under cold running water for about 5 minutes)

2 garlic cloves

1 shallot

1 tsp red chili flakes

salt and pepper

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tbsp Primal Kitchen non-dairy buffalo sauce (or any slightly spicy and creamy sauce of your choice)

Instructions:

For rice: Cook rice according to package instructions. Do not add any butter or oil when cooking. You want it nice and sticky!

Once cooked, add salt, sugar & rice vinegar to taste. I really don’t know how much I used…if I had to guess I’d say about 1 teaspoon of each? Start slow and add more as you see fit! The rice doesn’t have to have a super strong flavor, just enough to make it not bland.

For salsa: Combine cubed mango and avocado in a bowl. Make sure its nice and chunky; this will add texture to the assembled stack. Squeeze lime, add salt and chili lime (and honestly any other seasonings you want, just try not to over spice it). Gently toss it all with a spoon to combine.

For shrimp: add olive oil, finely chopped garlic and shallot to your pan over medium heat. Once its nice and aromatic, add your shrimp. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and chili flakes on the shrimp. Cook until pinkish…it doesn’t take long. Maybe 3-4 minutes. Flip shrimp, swirling it in the juices, for another 3-4 minutes. Once cooked, allow to cool slightly before chopping into small chunks.

To assemble:

Using a large circular cookie cutter, pack in the rice first. You want it to be sturdy so don’t be afraid to pack it down tight.

Use the next smaller size cookie cutter and fill half with a layer of the mango salsa.

Fill the top half with the chopped shrimp. Add some of the shrimp au jus to the top of the shrimp if you like!

For the last step, DO NOT remove the second cookie cutter before adding the sauce. You want it on so that the sauce doesn’t spread all out and ruin your presentation, lol.

Using the smallest cookie cutter size, Place it in the center of the shrimp and kinda anchor it down a little bit. Pour in your sauce. Carefully remove the SECOND cookie cutter, holding the mango & shrimp layers.

Then, when you’re ready to present, take off the smallest cookie cutter to reveal the drippy drippy saucy-sauce!

VOILA! A super delicious, slightly spicy, tangy, flavor packed and FUN way to eat rice, shrimp, and mango salsa.

For the story:

I knew I wanted to use rice and shrimp in a dish. I kept seeing fun ways to fry up rice and stack it with cubed salmon in a spicy mayo sauce. And then I came across a pin with a picture of a spicy shrimp, rice, and mango-avocado salsa stack. It was exactly like a popular appetizer from a local restaurant here in Tulsa that uses lump crab in their stack instead of shrimp. But the picture was all the inspiration I needed to see if I could make this work!

Honestly, this was one of the most fun recipes I’ve made. Not only are all the individual elements delicious in and of themselves (rice, shrimp, mango & avocado?! Yes ma’am.) But the idea of finding a way to stack it was such a fun challenge for me. I had seen people using large, 2-cup measuring cups, spraying them with oil, and filling the cups backwards (topping first) and then tapping it all out once packed. But I really wanted to have that fun sauce-drizzle-reveal moment, plus I didn’t have a large enough measuring cup to make that work.

When I saw my circular cookie cutters (which actually Sam had before we got married!) it clicked. And they worked so perfectly!

This was just such a happy meal for me. I got to experiment, problem solve, create, and absolutely delight in every step of the process. This dinner just emphasized and expounded my love for cooking and the way it allows me to be creative in the kitchen.

Well, I’m off to make some late breakfast/early lunch, otherwise known as brunch in the Hogle home (as well as worldwide).

Until next time, party people!