What’s Bang Bang Shrimp?
For bang bang shrimp fanatics, this question might sound pretty bonkers—you can just skip ahead to the recipe!—but for the uninitiated “bang bang shrimp” might sound at best confusing and at worst mildly alarming. No, there’s nothing explosive about these shrimp. Except for the flavor! Bang bang shrimp is the name of a cult-favorite dish at the Bonefish Grill. It’s a simple appetizer of crispy fried shrimp that are tossed in a chili-spiked, sweet and creamy “bang bang” sauce. While we think that sounds delicious, we think that taking those big, bold, delicious flavors and creating a pasta out of them is possibly even more delicious! Thus, bang bang shrimp pasta!
Everything You’ll Need To Make This Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta
Is there anything better that you could possibly make with a pound of shrimp and a pound of pasta? Doubtful. This shrimp pasta recipe is positively vibrating with flavor—it’s a big panful of sweet, spicy, creamy, rich, shrimp-y deliciousness. It’s a little showy in the best way—great for company, date night, or just as a dinnertime treat for your family. The ingredients aren’t fussy—a quick trip to the store and you’ll be ready to cook. Here’s what you need to make this creamy bang bang shrimp pasta:
- Long pasta of your choice! We’ve had great success with both spaghetti and fettuccine.
- Coconut oil (butter works, too)
- A pound of shrimp
- Heavy cream
- Thai sweet chili sauce
- Sriracha
- Fresh garlic and ginger
How To Make Bang Bang Sauce for Pasta
You’ll start by simply sautéing shrimp in a little coconut oil or butter until it’s cooked—nothing unusual or tricky there. Then, while the pasta boils—the sauce only takes about 8 minutes to come together—you’ll make this saucey magic happen! Here’s how to make creamy bang bang sauce for shrimp pasta:
- Pour together the heavy cream, Thai sweet chili sauce, garlic, ginger, Sriracha and a little salt in the same pan you cooked the shrimp in.
- Whisk until the sauce looks pretty uniformly pink-ish.
- Bring to a boil!
- As soon as you see it boil, quickly turn the heat down and simmer the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. This takes about 5 minutes.
How To Shop For Shrimp
Cooking shrimp is pretty easy—cook it quick, and don’t overcook it. Buying shrimp, on the other hand, can be really confusing. We’ll try to decode it for you a bit.
- Shrimp sizing: it’s helpful to know, first of all, that here in the U.S., shrimp is sold by weight. When shrimp size is referenced—”jumbo”, “medium” “small” and so on—that size correlates with the number of shrimp per pound. For this recipe, we’re calling for medium shrimp, which means we’d expect you to get about 30 shrimp per pound.
- What to buy: wild shrimp is typically a better choice, environmentally-speaking, than farmed, and buying wild American shrimp is a good way to cut any worries about slavery or shady labor practices right out of the equation. Look for wild Gulf shrimp—fresh or frozen—and check labels for preservatives. Different packers use different preservatives in different amounts, and (of course) you want as little added to your shrimp as possible if you’re buying frozen shrimp.
Tools You’ll Need:
- Big sauté pan—it’ll need to hold the shrimp, pasta and sauce with room to stir it all together, so don’t use a little sauté pan!
- Large stock pot
- Whisk
- Tongs are extremely useful for cooking shrimp.
More Shrimp Recipes We’re Crazy About
We’re pretty crazy for these little pink crustaceans. You too? OK great—here are four shrimp recipes we’re loving right now—give ‘em a go!
Was This Recipe Bang On Target?
Bang puns! Who could blame us? Anyway, we hope you’re as into this bang bang shrimp pasta as we are. If you are, let us know! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!
