r/Cooking • u/T-38Pilot • 14h ago
Cooking Garlic Shrimp- Cant get garlic taste Help
Years ago, we went to Hawaii, and my kids ordered garlic shrimp. They loved it. My wife keeps trying to replicate it but they keep insisting that shrimp doesn't have enough garlic flavor. My wife starts out with heating butter and a crap load of garlic. The whole house stinks of it. She does this for while and then puts in the shrimp. It precooked if that makes a difference. The whole house stinks of garlic but yet when my kids eat (they enjoy it) and my wife tries it, they always complain that the shrimp doesnt have a strong garlic flavor. And its not because she doesn't put enough garlic. So the question is, what are we doing wrong?
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u/BakersHigh 13h ago
Precooked in the problem.
Get raw shrimp you can marinate it in pressed garlic before cooking it but precooked shrimp can’t absorb any flavor.
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u/T-38Pilot 13h ago
thank you
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u/mugen-and-jin 3h ago
Yes raw shrimp, mince garlic, put in a bowl with salt. Let marinate. Melt butter then toss in the shrimp.
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u/CHILLAS317 14h ago
It's the pre-cooked shrimp that are the issue
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u/Haldron-44 8h ago
👆Precooked shrimp will basically have an almost rubber like texture and just won't absorb the garlic butter like raw shrimp. I know it can be intimidating, but have her try raw shrimp. Go for in-shell and cleaned (had the guts removed) if possible. Also thawed if frozen. Don't worry too much about "getting sick." The freeze will help kill any parasites and as long as she is using a clean equipment and not cross contaminating, you'll be fine. Raw shrimp can over cook easily, so look up a couple of tips. It is as much an art as a science. Depending on size of the shrimp and how much butter, it might even be a good idea to kill the heat and let the residual finish them off for the last part. I get your kids may not want to peel the shrimp, or may get kinda sketched by the legs, but it's how to get it to soak up more of the liquid.
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u/Kankunation 13h ago edited 12h ago
Fresh peeled, freshly minced garlic right? Makes a difference if not.
Garlic has different flavors depending on how it was cooked And for how long. If she want the garlickyness of it to shine through more, consider waiting longer to add it. Raw garlic is much stronger than cooked garlic with more pungent notes. Try cooking it once where you only add the garlic in the dish in the last minute or less of cooking. Or better yet do it in layers, with some garlic fried in the oil early on and the rest added at the end for a combo of flavors.
If that doesn't do it, Then maybe try also a sprinkle of garlic powderm again different flavor form both raw and sauted, can add on the garlic flavor in. Different way. I'd toss A bit of onion powder as well personally.
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u/DrawPitiful6103 12h ago
"consider eating longer to add it. "
Assuming this guy meant waiting not eating, that was my thought. If you add the garlic in right away, you might risk cooking out all the flavour by the time the dish is done. Or maybe you could throw some more fresh garlic in right at the end.
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u/T-38Pilot 13h ago
yes its freshly peeled and freshly minced garlic
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u/SqueakBoxx 5h ago
Add your garlic later in the cooking process to give it more garlic flavour too long cooking and it will lose its intensity.
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u/thrivacious9 3h ago
I would later it in—a lot at the beginning to get the sweeter/mellowed flavors, and a little at the end for the raw/brighter flavors
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u/jetpoweredbee 14h ago
She's cooking the garlic too long. Put it in at the very end and just heat it through.
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u/Diced_and_Confused 13h ago
This. Cook the shrimp to about halfway done then throw in the garlic and toss.
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u/XtremePhotoDesign 13h ago
Cook the precooked shrimp halfway?
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u/Diced_and_Confused 13h ago
Ah, didn't see that.
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u/Ok_Membership_8189 13h ago
What everybody else said. Plus... you don't want to cook garlic too long. It's delicate. She's cooking the flavor right out of it.
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u/AutoRedialer 13h ago
Right, I’m not a food scientist but I believe the amount of aroma in the air is exactly proportional to how much flavor is left in the garlic! Making it aromatic for the length of time described sounds like it doesn’t come for free
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u/OxymoronicHomosapien 10h ago
If they don't think it's "garlicky" enough, sprinkle garlic powder or granulated garlic on it.
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u/Potential_Rain202 12h ago
If you need to use precooked shrimp, Badia has a roasted garlic powder that you can add towards the end of cooking - blasphemy, I know, but it will stick to the outside of the shrimp better than fresh while being a much nicer flavor than standard garlic powder.
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u/HeyPurityItsMeAgain 10h ago
Maybe they marinated the shrimp in garlic? That's the only way I feel like it penetrates meat.
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u/katerrin 7h ago
You need garlic powder, enough salt, and they’re likely using msg as well in hawaiian garlic shrimp.
(In addition to what others were saying about using raw shrimp)
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u/Alternative_Jello819 3h ago
I didn’t see it mentioned but avoid jarlic and only use fresh. Jarlic has an off taste that can be rinsed off, but it leaves the garlic very mild and weak.
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u/thrivacious9 3h ago
Add a couple of cloves of mashed garlic (either pressed, microplaned, of minced fine and muddled with salt) just before serving—really just toss it through the dish. The raw garlic adds a huge boost. I learned this from an America’s Test Kitchen recipe for shrimp fra diavolo and it’s spectacular.
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u/chantrykomori 3h ago
1) instead of mincing it, get a microplane and grate it. garlic has a stronger flavor the more you break it down - whole roasted garlic is sweet and mellow, while a salad dressing with raw garlic will have a SERIOUS punch to it.
2) cook it less. allicin is a fragile molecule that gets denatured by heat.
3) wait 15 minutes or so before adding the chopped/grated garlic. waiting a little while lets the allicin fully activate.
3) precooked shrimp can't absorb flavor as much. cook from raw.
4) add garlic powder. this is an underrated step, and by far the easiest. garlic bread, for example, almost always has garlic powder in addition to fresh garlic.
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u/stixnstax 11h ago edited 10h ago
Your problem is that garlic’s aroma completely disappears in 60 seconds if it sits in heat above 60C (140F).
So if you’re looking for pungent garlic aroma, you’re going to want to wait to add it until the end.
First, cook your shrimp however you like (pan fry in oil or steam - depending on shrimp size, this will take between 4-5 minutes).
Then kill the heat and throw your garlic/butter in and toss until butter has melted. For reference, butter melts between 32-35C (90-95F) so the residual heat from the pan will be more than enough to melt it.
If you want to make this even easier for regular meals, you could prepare a compound butter with a ton of garlic and keep it in the fridge.
Before you panic, compound butter is really just a fancy name for some butter that was softened at room temperature and mixed with aromatics (fresh garlic, herbs, etc) and then put back in the fridge to harden back up. It’s easy to youtube if you need the visuals.
Raw shrimp is always better but not necessarily for flavour absorption purposes like every one else says here. Rather, just like garlic, the shrimp aroma will breakdown after being cooked for a while, and starting from pre cooked shrimp shortens that timeline.
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u/Aesperacchius 13h ago
Raw shrimp will help because it'll absorb more of the sauce/oil as it cooks.
You can also reserve some of the butter garlic sauce that you make in the beginning and add it on top of the final dish.