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Spain · Shrimp

Sizzling Garlic Shrimp

Gambas al Ajillo

Brought to the bar still spitting in a little clay dish: shrimp cooked fast in olive oil with plenty of garlic and a dried red chili. Half the fun is mopping up the oil with bread.

  • Prep 10 min
  • Cook 8 min
  • Serves 4 as a tapa
  • Level Easy
Photo: Javier Lastras from España/Spain · CC BY 2.0
Served with: Catalan Tomato Bread ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the shrimp

Method

Step by step, the way it is done on the island.

  1. Dry the shrimp. Pat the shrimp very dry and sprinkle with the salt.
  2. Flavor the oil. In a clay cazuela or small skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-low heat with the garlic and chilies for 2–3 minutes, until the garlic just starts to turn golden.
  3. Cook the shrimp. Turn the heat to medium-high, add the shrimp in one layer and cook 1 minute. Turn them and cook 1 minute more, until pink.
  4. Finish. Splash in the sherry and lemon juice, let it sizzle for a few seconds, then take it off the heat and sprinkle with parsley.
  5. Serve. Bring it to the table bubbling in the pan with pan con tomate or plenty of crusty bread.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Catalonia, Spain

Catalan Tomato Bread

Pa amb Tomàquet

Toasted country bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, finished with olive oil and salt. In the fishing ports of the Costa Brava it comes with everything from the grill.

  • Prep 10 min
  • Cook 5 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Easy

You need

  • 8 slices rustic country bread, about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick
  • 2 garlic cloves, halved
  • 3 very ripe tomatoes, halved
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Flaky sea salt

How to make it

  1. Toast. Grill or toast the bread until crisp and golden on the outside but still soft in the middle.
  2. Rub with garlic. While it is hot, rub one side of each slice lightly with the cut garlic.
  3. Rub with tomato. Rub the cut tomato hard over the bread, squeezing so the pulp and juice soak in, until only the skin is left in your hand.
  4. Finish. Drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and serve right away.

Photo: Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · CC BY 2.0

More ways to cook Shrimp

Same fish, a different corner of the sea.

Havana, CubaCuban Shrimp in Creole Sauce
Arequipa, PeruArequipa Shrimp Chowder
Salvador, Bahia, BrazilBahian Shrimp in Creamy Cassava Coconut Sauce
Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston Shrimp and Grits
Cajun Country, LouisianaLouisiana Shrimp and Crab Gumbo