Fry okra with shrimp is fairly new to me, but according to my Guyanese friends it’s a popular dish in the traditional Guyanese home. This fry okra with shrimp is a recipe which was passed on to me to try by someone with Guyanese roots and I do hope I do it justice. Over the years my appreciation for okra (ochro as we tend to also call it in the Caribbean) has heightened so when the recipe was shared with me I can’t tell you how excited I was to give it a try. Many moons later and I can safely say it’s one of my favorite okra recipes.
You’ll Need…
1 lb okra
medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 scallions (green onions)
3 tablespoon veg oil
1 lb shrimp (cleaned / deveined)
2-3 tablespoons celery leaves
Notes: When using scotch bonnet peppers or any hot peppers, do wear gloves, wash your hands with soap and water after handling and if you’re concerned about the raw heat.. don’t include any seeds or membrane surrounding (whitish area) the seeds. This is where the real heat in hot peppers are.
Tips: to avoid the okra being overly slimy, wash, pat dry, slice.. then place on a cookie sheet or large plate and place in the sun to dry a bit. Or at least allow to air dry for a couple hours in your kitchen. Additionally, add the salt near the very end of cooking as the salt will draw-out the moisture and cause to go slimy.
As I mentioned above (see tips), there’s a way to prevent the cut okra from being overly slimy, but I was in a bit of a rush and skipped this step. All I did was wash the okras, pat dry with paper towels, then sliced. Remember to remove the stem and end tips and discard.
Next up you’ll have to chop the scallions, onion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper and celery leaves.
Peel and devein your shrimp.. wash clean and chop into small pieces. I had medium sized shrimp, so I simply cut in half. Here’s a short video showing how to peel and devein shrimp (remember you can now purchase shrimp that’s fully cleaned at many supermarkets):
With everything ready, it’s time to cook. Add the vegetable oil into a heavy pan, then add the chopped ingredients (not the shrimp yet). Please also add the black pepper to the mix. Cook that for a couple minutes on low heat to really bring out the flavors.
Now it’s time to add the shrimp pieces and cook on med heat for 2-3 minutes. Here is where you now have 2 options. 1. You can remove the shrimp at this point and set it aside.. then add the final 2 minutes of cooking (to avoid overcooking the shrimp). Or 2. I simply kept the shrimp in the pot and added the cut okra to it. Keep stirring often as it can start to stick to the bottom of the pot/pan (why we started off with so much oil).
Allow the fry okra with shrimp to cook for about 7-10 minutes uncovered. You will start to see slightly browned edges on the okra… that’s the best part of this dish (my humble opinion) Now add the salt, give it a good stir (remember to add back the cooked shrimp at this point if you removed them earlier) and you’re done.
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Looks delish
I know, I’m sooo late to this post. But Louisiana cooking, particularly New Orleans cooking is so close to island cookng! Here, we would substitute tomatoes for the sb peppers. Mmm, soo good. Thanks Chris for sharing. I made your okra rice and MAN! Sooo good.
I know, I’m sooo late to this post. But Louisiana cooking, pasrticularly New Orleans cooking is so clos to island cookng! Hre, we would substitte tomatoes for sbp. Mmm, soo good. Thanks Chris for sharing. I made our okra rice and MAN! Sooo good.
Chris boy who gave away our Recipe but well done I’m Guyanese and I have a lot of Trinidadian friends at work we are all nurses who trade Receipes but needless to say I refuse to give our Guyanese Pepperpot. Lol but I love how you bring us all together using food. Keep doing the fantastic work Chris.
Very nice recipe! I am making this today. I dried out my okra for a few hours in a 200 degree oven.
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
Just finished making this dish, it wasgreat!
Isn’t there a faster and easier way to dry out instead of outside. Im not to thrill about the insect flying and sitting on it
I want to thank you for the recipe. It is delicious and thanks for helping me add more to my repertoire. 🙂 Will try more of the recipes.
this looks good and i think that i am going to try it this afternoon thank you christ
I have tried a few of your recipies and must congratulate you on your presentation.Very easy to follow
an the dishes were absolutely fantastic. Thank You
My family starts by frying the okra first with oil and onion. then we add about a cooking spoon or less depending on the amount of okra, of vinegar. the vinegar cuts the slime out. you wont taste it unless you begin with too much! We add the shrimp just as all the slime is going out. The vinegar really gets the slime out, but u must fry it on medium heat to begin with as to not burn or overcook the okra before the frying oil and vinegar work together to create slime free okra.
I tried this recipe for the first time last week, it is absolutely wonderful. I made it to go with tortilla wraps and it was delicious. I am glad I subscribed. Thank you.
I use some tomato paste for extra flavor when frying up the shrimp. I also cut up the okra the day before and let it dry out in the sun.
I tried okra for the first time in May, it was breaded, fried, and very tasty! I love your recipe because it introduces me to a much healthier way to enjoy okra!
Thanks for this recipe I used to put the shrimp in last. I will try this. I also have used salt fish instead of shrimp.