Marinated Key West Shrimp With Lychee Salsa

Florida abounds with sustained sweet savory elements with which to “chef about” when you figure out how to secure them for your table. As I write this column, I declare local lychees, mango and Key West “pinkies” among my favorites – ever. This month’s recipe is a speedy summertime salute to the savory-sweet, seemingly sounding somewhat satisfying! Can you say that five times real fast? I can’t, especially after sipping the great mango daiquiri I just happily threw together.

I have traveled the whole state on several occasions; 36 hours running from Hurricane Irma was the longest sojourn. Those opportunities gave me honest insight to what this Sunshine State has to offer: succulent Apalachicola oysters (hard to get now because of pollution and overharvesting), mango – the Florida peach – seasonal lychees, seafood (hogfish, yellowtails, stone crabs, lobster, Sebastian inlet clams and scallops) and the classic Key West wild-caught shrimp, pinkies.

Mix that up with night blooming jasmine outside your window and Florida feels like the ultimate place to be. As my dear old dad used to say while sipping Cruzan Rum and having a Benson & Hedges by the intercostal, “Aren’t you glad you moved down here?” Yes, Dad, I am forever grateful and blessed on this path.

After 1,500-plus dives in more than 25 years, I would venture a big yes. One of my few elusive prey were Key West shrimp. I have hand caught lobster, stone crab, sea urchins, lion fish, flounder (speared), hogfish, dolphin, grouper, yellowtail, mackerel, triple tail, cobia, squid and even an octopus. All beings were honored and I was thankful to have consumed what I harvested. I will say that fresh pinkies are in the top tier for devising a delish dish.

Hak Ip lychees are fragrant, sweet and meatier than other varieties.

To complement these shrimp, I made a salsa with the “right now” seasonal ingredients of fresh lychee and mango. The fact is, Florida is a major production center for this succulent fruit that I will drive 40 miles for. Check out Old Cutler Road for the lineups of vendors, but know that not all lychees are equal. The Chinese began cultivating this fragrant fleshy fruit more than 1,000 years ago – what a discovery!!! Yes, Dad, I could never beat that being up in the Yew Nork concrete canyons after this pandemic.

I am forever grateful to have moved here in 1990 (often visiting the folks when they moved to “Fort Liquordale” in 1977). Those were the real days of spring break, but food was usually secondary to the fun, naughty times I am happy to have emerged from relatively unscathed. Surviving Hurricane Andrew in the Design District gave me impetus to seek adventures and get out to enjoy the real wild treasures of Florida, even as the National Guard camped out in front of my studio for weeks swapping MREs (that’s meal, ready-to-eat) with me for good fresh coffee.

All the while here in Florida, I’ve gathered knowledge about the sweet and savory treasures to be found everywhere. Know where and when to find great fresh custard apples (Anona)? Or which restaurant serves fresh grilled hogfish in the Keys?(Hogfish Bar & Grill, you silly person, you). OK then, better check out Loop Road in Big Cypress National Preserve (it’s a treasured Everglades adventure) and about halfway through, 8 miles either way you start, one can find them alongside that dusty gravel-filled road.

After August when the yellow flies have stopped absconding off and eating small infants is when one should look for those indigenous apples. Also cautiously remember that Florida black bears like custard apples, too (and don’t forget about Statute 372.667 concerning reptiles).

Another local gem is gathering strawberries near Knaus Berry Farm, stopping for blackberries if you can find them as well. A quick stop at Robert Is Here for their great smoothies is worth the ride alone.

Deciding which friend has the best and least fibrous mangos, and then devising the best mango daiquiris ever made (using locally made Miami Club Rum Anejo). Life is good here if you get out of the COVID cave and breath the fresh air again. One can garner a great deal of knowledge on three-hour mini road trips while learning how to be a more creative chef in your culinary circle.

Back to the kitchen it is. Pinkies. They are really delicious and packed with ocean flavor. Most of the time I just drop them into a steamer. This recipe is about our Caribbean-Latin influence and a salsa to cry for. Lychees and mangos also do well on their own, but for this issue I wanna have a party and mix these bad boys up with a dash of sea grape honey (from Harold P. Curtis Honey Co. in LaBelle).

Get Key limes and local ingredients when you can. I love to source local. I have driven 140 miles round trip to get fresh wild raw honey from a wonderful source off a hidden stretch of highway ... exploring. Also, remember that fresh shrimp always have pink tails. The longer they sit on ice their tails turn darker, blacker colors. When butts are black, send ’em back. Think pink and avoid da' stink. I hope you can still be smellin’ what I’m tellin’.

Prep time for this summer treat is short at about 30 minutes, not including the daiquiri hours that accompany summertime meals. Prep time for side dishes is dependent upon your selection.

MARINATED KEY WEST SHRIMP WITH LYCHEE SALSA

Serves: 2 (Is romance is in the air?)

INGREDIENTS – SHRIMP + MARINADE

All the fixings!

· 12 large Key West shrimp, heads off this time (they’re available often at Norman Brothers Produce; call to order)

· 3 scallions, cut lengthwise and finely (finely!) chopped

· 1/3 bunch cilantro, finely (finely!) chopped

· 8 cloves garlic, finely (finely!) chopped

· 4 small red, orange and/or yellow peppers, finely (finely!) chopped, plus one or two more cut into rings, for skewering

· 1 jalapeño pepper, finely (finely!) chopped

· 1 1/2 cups grapeseed oil

· 2 tablespoons kosher salt

· 8-10 small Key limes for broiling on the skewers (but squeeze two and reserve the juice for the marinade)

· Bamboo skewers that have been soaked in a water-filled bag overnight

· 1 bottle white wine for lubricating the chef while at work

INGREDIENTS – LYCHEE SALSA

· 1 pound fresh local lychee (I found the Vietnamese ones*)

· 1/4 finely (finely!) chopped mango that fell off a neighbor’s tree

· 2 tablespoons sea grape honey

· While peeling the fruit and removing the small seeds, the juice from lychees went into my daiquiri (ha ha!)

*The Hak Ip variety – fragrant, sweet and meatier than other varieties – are really the best to eat, but I used them to cook this time.

PREPARATION

1 of 4

Wild-caught “pinkies” are a classic Key West treat.

2 of 4

This nifty Chop-O-Matic makes fast work of finely (finely!) chopping veggies.

3 of 4

Freshly broiled finals, ready to eat.

4 of 4

Broiling or barbecuing gives pinkies flavor you can savor.

· Scissor down the back of your shrimp to remove the poop shoot and also to allow marinade to seep into the exposed meat.

· Mix shrimp and next seven marinade ingredients (minus pepper rings and plus the juice of two limes) into a deep bowl and let marinate at least 1 hour in refrigerator; turn 2-3 times to infuse shrimp with even more flavor.

· Artistically skewer shrimp (limes in between; alternate with pepper rings); reserve marinade.

· Broil skewered shrimp for about three minutes on one side. Remove from broiler, coat with leftover marinade spices and broil an additional three minutes on the other side, being careful not to let the tails burn too black.

· Serve with a side of your choice; anything, really, but please – no mac ’n’ cheese!

· For each bite of the pinkies, use a great helping of lychee salsa – which complements their sublime salty-spicy goodness, perfectly – to celebrate their short growing season.

Additional suggestions:

· My choice of side: baby spinach salad with creamy Caesar dressing (Paul Newman’s is the one I love), garnished with half a tomato wedged up.

· Mango Daiquiris: Figure this out on your own because I only used 1/4 mango in the salsa and the rest went into the blended drink (not shown but joyfully consumed).

Ah, sweet mystery of life!

Sid Hoeltzell is an award-winning Miami-based commercial food and beverage photographer and former “MasterChef” contestant. He has completed more than 450 commissioned works for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, teaches food photography seminars and is a preferred fine art photographer for Christie’s, Sotheby’s and private collections.