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1
Combine the oil and garlic in a 10- or 12-inch skillet.
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2
Turn the heat to medium and cook until the garlic begins to sizzle, then add the cumin and paprika.
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3
Stir, raise the heat to medium-high, and add the shrimp, along with some salt and pepper.
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4
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are all pink, no longer; you do not want to evaporate their liquid.
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5
Turn off the heat, add the parsley, and serve.
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6
VARIATIONS
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7
Omit the cumin and paprika; use cayenne in place of black pepper.
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8
When the shrimp are cooked, stir in 2 or more tablespoons fresh lemon juice.
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9
Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
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10
Substitute peanut or vegetable oil for the olive oil and cook 1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger and 2 or 3 small dried red chiles (or to taste) along with the garlic; omit the cumin and paprika.
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11
When the shrimp are done, stir in 1 tablespoon soy sauce; garnish with minced scallion or fresh cilantro and serve with lime wedges.
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12
Almost all shrimp are frozen before sale.
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13
So unless youre in a hurry, you might as well buy them frozen and defrost them yourself; this will guarantee you that they are defrosted just before you cook them, therefore retaining peak quality.
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14
There are no universal standards for shrimp size; large and medium dont mean much.
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15
Therefore, it pays to learn to judge shrimp size by the number per pound, as retailers do.
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16
Shrimp labeled 16/20, for example, contain sixteen to twenty per pound; those labeled U-20 require fewer (under) twenty to make a pound.
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Shrimp from fifteen to about thirty per pound usually give the best combination of flavor, ease (peeling tiny shrimp is a nuisance), and value (really big shrimp usually cost more than $15 a pound).
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18
On deveining: I dont.
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You can, if you like, but its a thankless task, and there isnt one person in a hundred who could blind-taste the difference between shrimp that have and have not been deveined.
