Recipe Test: Jamaican Jerk Shrimp with Tropical Fruit Salsa

This recipe is once again courtesy of BH&G Appetizer magazine, where I also found the beet hummous recipe.  Their recipes seem to be well tested and consistent, which is very good, so I find myself only changing a few things here or there for personal preference.

The only complaint I have with BH&G recipes is their reliance on canned ingredients. The beet hummous recipe called for canned or pickled beets.  Huh?  The roasted ones were soooo much better.  In this case, the orginal tropical fruit salsa recipe called for fresh or frozen papaya (you can get frozen?) and canned pineapple.  Blech.  Reminds me of my mother-in-laws ham with pineapple circles, maraschino cherries and cloves.  Shiiiiiiiver.

Anyway, the shrimp recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of Jamaican Jerk seasoning.  Jerk pork is one of my favourite things to eat, and living in multi-cultural Toronto, I live withing 10 minutes of probably 6 or 7 jerk places.  The ones people talk about in Toronto are The Real Jerk (Queen East), Albert's (St. Clair & Vaughan), Orlandos (Old Weston Road and St. Clair) and my favourite...Mr. Jerk.  But you HAVE to go to the Mr. Jerk in the strip mall at Lawrence and Keele Street not the one on Eglinton.  In my opinion it is the best in the city.

The only commercially produced Jerk I love is  Bakayawd Jerk Seasoning. To me, it is on par with what we get at Mr. Jerk.  It is made by Charlie Cheung, the husband of my friend Lauren, whom I worked with for years.  Small batches and kick-ass flavour!  Others like Grace or Walkers Wood but only Bakayawd really works for our house.  Anything else is inferior.

For those not familiar, "jerk" refers to both a spice rub and a particular cooking technique.  Everyone who makes jerk spice has their own recipe, but generally, jerk is based on a combination of allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, cloves, cinnamon, scallion, nutmeg, thyme, garlic and salt and pepper.  Jerk spice can be applied as a dry or wet rub for many different types of meats, including goat, chicken, pork, fish and shellfish.

The cooking technique of "jerking", has evolved over time from using pit fires to old oil barrel halves as the container, which remain one of the most popular cooking methods for jerk in Jamaica. Most jerk in Jamaica is no longer cooked in the traditional method in pit fires and is grilled over hardwood charcoal in a steel drum jerk pan.

Jamaican Jerk Shrimp with Tropical Fruit

2 pounds large frozen peeled shrimp (up to you whether or not to remove the tails)
1 tablespoon Jamaican jerk seasoning of your choice
1 small fresh papaya, seeded and chopped (I substituted a mango as I HATE papaya) about 1 cup
1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
1/4 cup roasted red pepper
1/4 cup sliced green onion (about 2 onions)
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic (optional)

Thaw shrimp.  Rinse and pat shrimp dry with paper towels.  Place shrimp in a resealable plastic bag.  Add jerk seasoning.  Seal bag and turn to coat.  Marinate for minimum 30 minutes or longer if you can.

For salsa, in a bowl, combine chopped mango, pineapple, roasted pepper, green onions, lime peel, lime juice and cilantro.  Cover and chill until ready to serve (can be made several hours ahead).

When ready to serve, sautee shrimp in a hot skillet with a small amount of oil until the shrimp turns pink and the tales start to curl, approximately 2 minutes.  Serve in a martini glass, with salsa as the base, topped with shrimp, and then a bit more salsa for colour.

Alternavitely, thread shrimp on skewers to cook (wear gloves so that the habanero pepper does not get absorbed into your skin....trust me on this one).   Grill shrimp for 1-2 minutes per side until they turn pink and tails curl.  Serve on a platter on skewers with salsa sprinkled over top.

Enjoy!