Save Your Heads

I once read somewhere-- I can no longer recall where-- that it is a good idea to save your shrimp heads. This means buying shrimp that haven't already been deveined and decapitated. Whenever possible, start a collection of heads and shells in the freezer. That way, when the moment strikes, you've got the makings for a shrimp stock.

It just so happens that our nearby pan-Asian market sells proper frozen shrimp, the kind that look like the aquatic bugs they really are. A few weeks ago, having made something-or-other involving shrimp, I saved the heads and shells. They've been in the freezer ever since, staring out mutely from inside their ziploc bag.

Such uncharacteristic foresight has made possible an excellent new discovery. The frozen heads formed the basis of a Brazilian shrimp stew we made the other night for our friends. The stew features a ginger-infused shrimp stock spiked with coconut milk and cashew butter. The recipe is adapted from James Peterson's Fish and Shellfish, which rightly describes its flavors as similar to those of a Thai curry, only without the fish sauce and lemon grass. With its striking pink color, the stew looks magisterial, yet is simple to prepare; its combination of flavors is deeply comforting. The key is that the rich saltiness of the stock is modulated by the last-minute addition of lime juice and cilantro.

The fun part involves chopping up the shrimp heads in a food processor. To make the broth, you churn up the heads and shells from 2 or 3 pounds of shrimp. (I used the frozen heads as well as the shells from the 2-pound bag of frozen shrimp I bought for this recipe). Keep the peeled shrimp-- the bodies themselves-- in the fridge while the broth cooks.

In a heavy pot, sauté the chopped heads in a little peanut oil, along with a chopped onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves, a goodly piece of ginger, grated, and two seeded, chopped chilies. The finer you chop everything, the more efficiently the stock will accommodate the flavors. Sauté all this until all the shrimpy bits turn red.

Then add a large can of diced tomatoes, and about three cups of water. I supplemented this with some prepared fish stock, but that's only because I had it around.

Simmer for about 30 minutes. At this point the dish is essentially made.

Strain the broth, using a fine-mesh strainer, and discard all the debris. Return the broth to the pot. Then, mix together 1/2 a can or so of coconut milk with several healthy tablespoons of cashew butter. The recipe suggests peanut butter as an alternative, but how many recipes call for cashew butter? What an opportunity. Whisk this mixture into the broth.

When it's nearly time to eat, drop the raw shrimp into the simmering broth. Then add the juice from 3 limes, and season with salt and pepper. The shrimp will be done within 3 minutes. So by the time you're ready to serve it, the shrimp will have cooked.

Serve in a shallow soup bowl with a tower of rice in the middle, and garnish with a healthy dose of finely-chopped cilantro. For a lighter meal, or as a starter, you could nix the rice.

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When we made this for our friends the other day, we started off with a "Brazilian" salad. What, one might ask, constitutes a "Brazilian" salad?

According to the internet, the recipe is similar in form and content to "salad." The difference is that you then add some hearts of palm, sliced into little coins.

Needless to say, Brazilian salad is delicious.