Garlic Black Pepper Baked Shrimp

Another day, another excuse to fire up the oven. I can’t get through a day without black pepper, and this time it’s shrimp.

The usual version of baked shrimp is garlic shrimp, where you stuff the garlic into the meat.

First, wash the shrimp, snip open the back of the tail and pull out the black intestine, then score it with a knife so it opens into two halves. Add Shaoxing wine, a little oil, and a tiny bit of salt to marinate.

No need to marinate long — about an hour is plenty.

Then we need the garlic. Find some garlic-smashing contraption and crush it up. Peel more cloves than you think you need.

Once crushed, heat a little oil over low heat, tip the garlic in, and let it warm through slowly. After that you can add seasonings to taste; salt is usually enough, but I threw in black pepper too.

Take that garlic-and-oil mixture off the heat. Once the shrimp are done marinating, spoon the garlic into the tails, lay them out on a baking tray — still foil plus a brushed layer of oil.

170°C, 15 minutes, that’s enough.

Out of the oven.

Tastes great, looks a bit rough. The garlic turned green because of the black pepper — without it, things probably would’ve looked a lot more normal, right?