# I like shrimp, mandarin orange, pepper & flambe



## skarke (May 22, 2014)

I like these ingredients,  but I'm just really learning how to cook. Can anyone ssuggest how put this stuff ttogether in a flambe that people would like? Sorry if I'm on the wrong forum, I'm a newbie.


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## GLC (May 22, 2014)

Well, I can't help much with the flambe part. I don't think flambe is much more than baloney intended to add another zero to the meal price. At any rate, I doubt much case could be made that flambe has any beneficial effect on the flavor of a shrimp dish. (Flambe fans may differ and will likely contribute.)

But shrimp, orange and pepper are pretty natural companions. I think mandarin oranges are so sweet that they need some sour component for balance. So, I'm thinking a marinade with orange, pepper, rice vinegar and soy sauce (I feel like the combination or the astringent vinegar and the umami of soy sauce would achieve the balance and make it more interesting than just sweet shrimp with pepper. 

Now, it's still just shrimp and whatever you serve it with, usually rice, so I think I'd use some more orange juice and zest for a reduction to drizzle before serving. Trick out the presentation a bit with thin orange slice halves and a touch of green, like chive. 

If you're into modernist, unlikely, if you're just learning, a sweet and sour orange espuma might play, also.

Don't be scared of the first one. You can't go too wrong with any part. Taste the marinade as you go and shoot for heavy flavor, since it's a marinade. And the reduction will be powerfully orange with mandarin juice and zest alone. Consider a white wine in the reduction, if it seems to strongly orange. The only real mistake would be to overcook the shrimp, which is the common evil done to shrimp, or to marinate it more than 30 minutes, which is about the most shrimp needs or can stand.

(Umm. Might be a good dish with lemon basil pasta rather than rice.)

((If I just had to flambe something like this, I think I'd use tequila. That's not really in the true spirit of flambe as a cooking method, but if I wanted to burn something, I'd at least be getting the flavor.))


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## Addie (May 22, 2014)

Welcome to DC. And no, you are not on the wrong forum. We welcome everyone. And I hope folks here can help you. In fact I know someone will come forward to give you some ideas.


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## skarke (May 22, 2014)

Wow GLC, great stuff. Thank you. I grew up on the coast, and have been fortunate to learn how cook seafood to the proper doneness, but I am only a recipe follower. I envy people who just "know what works" together. I hope that our other forum members will tolerate my curiosity, I am grateful for the help.


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## Addie (May 22, 2014)

See, already you got great advice.


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## salt and pepper (May 23, 2014)

OK you've got me thinking.
You don't say what kind of pepper but I'll go on from there.
For one serving this is what I would do. Cook a 1/2 cup of rice in 1 cup of orange juice. Saute 6 large shrimp with 6 or 8 peices of mandrine orange sections in 2 TBls olive oil till almost done then add a Tblsp of Grand Marnier (orange liquor) and cook off. Plate the shrimp over the rice & garnish. For the flambe, there are 2 ways you can do this... 1 drizzel Grand Marnier over the dish and light it or coat a sugar cube with the liquor and light the cube. Just an idea, hope this helps, Joey

   And if I was to name this dish I would call it:  "Sunshine Shrimp Flambe"


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## skarke (May 23, 2014)

I love this forum! I just tossed all of my non stick and bought some nice all Clad cookware on eBay. I've always liked to cook, and I'm pretty good with the knife the saute flip, mixing, b_d, and following recipe. I'm hoping that if you guys would tolerate me, I can't begin to develop real skills. Thanks. I can't wait to get home to try this stuff out


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## Mad Cook (May 23, 2014)

GLC said:


> Well, I can't help much with the flambe part. I don't think flambe is much more than baloney intended to add another zero to the meal price. At any rate, I doubt much case could be made that flambe has any beneficial effect on the flavor of a shrimp dish. (Flambe fans may differ and will likely contribute.)
> 
> But shrimp, orange and pepper are pretty natural companions. I think mandarin oranges are so sweet that they need some sour component for balance. So, I'm thinking a marinade with orange, pepper, rice vinegar and soy sauce (I feel like the combination or the astringent vinegar and the umami of soy sauce would achieve the balance and make it more interesting than just sweet shrimp with pepper.
> 
> ...



If you fancy a sweet course what about that oh-so-glamorous "Mid-Century" retro pudding that is becoming fashionable again - Crepes Suzette (in your case made with mandarin oranges)? With that you get the fruit and the flambe-ing together. 

For my first teenage birthday (in 1962) my parents took me out to dinner at a very posh restaurant. I have no recollection of the first course or the main but I will never forget how sophisticated I felt when the waiter made crepes suzette at the table just for me and handed the plate to me with a flourish and "Bon Appetit, Mademoiselle". We were only an ordinary family but my parents never thought that children should be deprived of grown-up gustatory treats and always saved up for special occasions both for themselves and me.


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## GLC (May 23, 2014)

I think getting really versatile means understand not just what to do but why it's done that way. The Internet is a great resource. There are now a number of sites along the "cooking for geeks" and science of cooking line, and it's relatively easy to become informed about how things work. 

The process of learning is endless, but if you're really cooking all the time with an inquiring mind, in a reasonable time you become able to confront a cupboard and create something good from what's in there and will be able to walk through a market and conceive of meals based on whatever happens to be good that day. You become the kind of cook who doesn't have recipes books but who accumulates books like The Flavor Bible, On Food and Cooking, and Larousse Gastronomique.


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