Spicy Sesame Sake Shrimp with Asian Inspired Rice Pilaf

Ah the deep freeze... always an adventure to find what's been buried at the bottom! Tonight I unearthed a half-full bag of frozen shrimp. Yes yes, I know... frozen shrimp... but when you live in the Midwest, frozen seafood is sometimes the best you can get! I have a plethora of Asian-inspired marinade ingredients from a recipe I tried out a while back, so I figured what the heck, let's rescue these shrimp in style!

I suppose you could skewer these and grill them and they'd be delicious, but the shrimp I had on hand were pretty puny, and the idea of threading tiny shrimp onto skewers on a work night just didn't appeal. Lazy way out ftw!

A few words on chilies: pick the kind you like, for the heat level you can tolerate. I used a cayenne because I like a little heat and I had some dried ones from my garden, but you can go with a milder variety if you like, or even go with a Thai Bird's Eye or habanero if you're adventurous! (or leave the chili out altogether if you think the chili sauce is enough heat for you)

If you can't find broccoli slaw, or don't like it, use whatever veggies you want... you could toss in a can of drained chopped water chestnuts, some drained bamboo shoots, green onions, fresh or frozen broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, whatever tickles your fancy.

Spicy Sesame Sake Shrimp with Asian Inspired Rice Pilaf:

Marinade Ingredients:

1/4c. soy sauce (use low sodium if you prefer)
1/4c. sake
1/4c. mirin (can find in the asian food isle at your local grocery)
1 Tbsp. chili sauce (use whatever kind you prefer, I used a spicy ketchup-like one)
1 Tbsp. sesame oil (taste the marinade, if you want more sesame flavor, add 2 Tbsp. instead)
1 dried cayenne pepper, or other dried or fresh chile, broken or sliced into pieces)

Rice Pilaf Ingredients:

1c. uncooked parboiled rice (I used Uncle Ben's)
1-2 handfulls of broccoli-slaw (comes in a plastic bag by the bagged salad)
2c. seafood stock (or just use chicken stock if you don't like/can't find seafood stock)
1/4c. sake
1Tbsp. Asian seasoning blend (I used Emeril's, but there are several out there)
1Tbsp. oil
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 bag of frozen shrimp, thawed, deveined and peeled, tails left on or off is your choice.
dribble of oil for the pan

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl, and place into a shallow dish with the shrimp. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours... for a lot more flavor you can marinate overnight, but I left the shells on when I did this and took them off before cooking.

Place all the rice pilaf ingredients in either a pan or a microwave rice cooker, and cook according to the package directions for 4 servings of parboiled rice.

Remove the shrimp from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Heat a dribble of oil in a pan on medium-high heat, and saute the shrimp until just opaque and pink.

Serve shrimp over the rice pilaf, perhaps with a nice side of steamed asparagus or broccoli.