Garlicky Shrimp Creole adopts Caribbean leanings

Any competent Louisiana cook can throw down a good shirt-staining shrimp Creole, but it took a 2012 family trip to Cuba, where his father was born, to make New Orleans native David Guas appreciate the dish’s Caribbean leanings.

“I watched a cook down there start building a sauce,” the chef-owner of Bayou Bakery in the D.C. area said, remembering, “and the process sure looked familiar to me.”

To honor the Cuban side, Guas keeps the spicy volume in his Creole turned down low, amps up the garlic and serves it with bay leaves afloat.

“We like to lick them clean,” he said, “to enjoy every last bit.”

Shrimp Creole (Camarones Enchilado)

6 servings

For the stock:

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 pounds of 21-25 count shrimp, shelled

1 bay leaf

1 sweet onion, cut in half

1 celery rib, cut into chunks

6 whole black peppercorns

6 cups of water

For the creole:

¼ cup olive oil

1 large sweet onion, diced

1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced

3 tablespoons minced garlic

3 bay leaves

⅓ cup dry white wine

2 15-ounce cans tomato puree

2 cups of the shrimp stock

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

White rice, cooked

Heat canola oil in a wide pot over medium. Add the shrimp shells (reserve the peeled shrimp) and stir to coat; reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 5 minutes, until they turn orange.

Add bay leaf, onion, celery, peppercorns and water; increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the liquid has reduced to 4 cups. Strain, discard the solids. Reserve 2 cups.

To make the Creole, heat olive oil in the same (now empty) pot over medium. Devein the peeled shrimp, then add to pot, stir; cook for about 6 minutes, stirring, or until it is mostly pink but not yet fully opaque. Transfer to shrimp a bowl. Stir in onion; cook for about 5 minutes, then stir in bell pepper and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, then add bay leaves, wine, tomato puree, stock, salt and black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper. Cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has slightly thickened and reduced.

Return the shrimp and any juices to the pot. Stir. Cook over medium-low for 10 minutes or so. Discard the bay leaves, if desired. Serve hot, over white rice.