Tamarind is one of my favorite ingredients for cooking. A lot of people think of tamarind as a fruit used mostly in Asian cuisine, but tamarind is also widely used in Latin America. As a child I loved drinking refresco de tamarindo (tamarind juice) and my favorite ice cream flavor was tamarind.
So it’s no wonder that one of my favorite dishes in tamarind citrus shrimp. This is also my daughter’s favorite and she really loves to eat her shrimp on a stick, as she calls the skewer. The shrimp’s flavor is a perfect match for the tamarind’s tartness which is sweetened with brown sugar and brought to life with orange and lime juice.
For this recipe I decided to kick up the flavor with Kikkoman Ponzu Sauce and a pinch of chipotle chile. I had not used ponzu sauce before and I loved that I didn’t have to add the lime juice as the ponzu sauce is already seasoned with citrus. The result was a flavorful shrimp dish with tart, tangy and citrus flavors and just the right amount of heat to make the sweet grilled oranges truly delicious.
This recipe is easy to make and ideal for the grill. I made them on my indoor grilling machine which worked great as the tamarind marinade caramelized and the shrimp tasted really sublime.
The entire house smelled of sweet and tangy tamarind bringing back memories from my home, Guatemala.
Tamarind Citrus Shrimp Kabobs
Ingredients
- 20 large shrimp shelled and deveined, tails on
- ½ cup tamarind concentrate or pulp available in Latino and Asian markets
- 3 Oranges
- 2 tablespoons Kikkoman Ponzu sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle chile pepper
- 4 bamboo or metal skewers
Instructions
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Stir the tamarind concentrate, juice from one orange (or ¼ cup fresh orange juice), Kikkoman Ponzu sauce and brown sugar.
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In a bowl marinade the shrimp in the tamarind sauce. Coat well and let stand for 15 minutes.
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While the shrimp are marinating cut the two remaining oranges into 8 wedges each.
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Soak bamboo skewers in water to prevent them from burning on the grill.
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Remove the shrimp from the marinade and thread onto four 10- to 12-inch skewers alternating with orange wedges.
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Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
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Grill kabobs until shrimp turn pink, about 2-3 minutes per side. Brush occasionally with marinade. Makes 4 skewers.
You can learn more about the Kikkoman products on the Kikkoman website en Español here.
Disclosure: This post was done in collaboration with Latina Bloggers Connect and Kikkoman. However all opinions are my own.
Paula studied architecture and now makes a living as a freelance writer,traveler and amateur photographer.She started her writing & publishing career as the editor of Bebé y Mamá, the first parenting magazine in Guatemala.She is the founder of www.GrowingUpBilingual.com and www.365thingsswfl.com and writes articles in Spanish and English for both magazines and the web on travel,food and bicultural and bilingual parenting .
When she is not on a plane or road trip she likes to create recipes inspired in the flavors of her native Guatemala.
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those really look amazing. can you send me some for dinner tonight?
I am not a fan of shrimp, but this looks great. Wonder if this would taste good with chicken?
Melissa, this would be prefect for chicken, you should give it a try!
Looks so tasty! Thanks so much!
I love Kikkoman’s products! They add such a great flavor to food! These look delicious too! Going to have to make these soon!
Wonderful article and LOVE the photos.Thank you for the information…I have been inspired!
O.M.G.! This looks so good, Paula! We love shrimps too and the tamarind is such a known flavor to me.. I used to drink a lot of jugo de tamarindo!… mmmmm.. se me hizo agua la boca!
Que rico se ve!
What a great dish!
Ponzu is a favorite at home
That looks so good. We recently tried this sauce too on fish. Can’t recall which kind but we all thought it would taste better on shrimp!
this loks really yummy. I love it. Need to try it soon
The y loor great. I can’t eat shrimp but my kids and my husband love them.
This recipe would be great for chicken kabobs too, you should give it a try! 🙂
Oh wow, this sounds like something my husband would love!
OMG!! This recipe looks so good. I love shrimp!!!!
OMG se me hizo agua la boca. Se ve delicioso y con tamarindo? quien lo iba a pensar.
Yum! You make me so hungry :)… I’m going to have to make this!
Que exquisito! Me encantan los camarones y nunca los he cocindo con Kikkoman! Gracias lo intentare!
Me imagino la deliciosa combinación del tamarindo con el ponzu. Me encanta esta receta!
Qué delicia! Todas las cosas maravillosas que se pueden preparar con Kikkoman.
OMG! Se me abrió el apetito! Se ven exquisitos!
Se ven muyyyyy ricos!!! No debería estar leyendo esto en la noche :S
I want to give this a try. Photos looks so scrumptious and easy to do!
looks so yummy, i love Kikkoman brand, got to try this one
Those look so good. I don’t eat shrimp but I love to make it for my family.
These are stunning! I just pinned so I can make them for dinner soon. What a fabulous recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Looks really delicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
This is delicious — I have not ever used the Ponzu sauce but it is going to be added to this week’s y shopping list because this recipe looks delicious
This recipe looks very tasty. Thanks for sharing!