Shrimp Boats with Pickled Radish are made with garlic shrimp nestled in a boat of minty endive and topped with quick pickled radish.
I have a fun garlic shrimp boat recipe with a quick fresh pickled radish recipe that is gentle on the waistline and full of flavor. I have guest posted over at Jenny at The NY Melrose Place and am posting again here so that it is more convenient for you to find the recipe. Please stop on over to The NY Melrose Place as you are going to love her recipes and all of her DIY tricks.
Garlic shrimp boats with pickled radish is perfect to serve as an appetizer or as a light lunch and is a breeze to put together. If you have 15 minutes, then you can whip up a batch of these delightful little light bites.
In addition to being light on the waistline, they are also gluten-free, dairy free, egg free, diabetic friendly, low carb and full of vibrant flavor.
No Guilt Appetizer
After a month of holiday over indulging, this little fun appetizer will be a welcome change to your diet. When you take your first bite of these garlic shrimp boats, you will enjoy the crunch of the endive, freshness of the mint, the cool and zesty quick radish pickles and the aroma of the garlic shrimp. I promise that this fun and healthy appetizer will tantalize all of your senses.
Using Fresh Herbs from the Country of Origin
I wanted to give you many different options for assembling your garlic shrimp boats depending on the fresh produce available in your geographic area. I live in Hong Kong and most generally we have access to both Asian vegetables and herbs.
However, it is a little more difficult to get the items that are familiar from back at home in the States. I completely understand the challenges of living abroad and access to certain items that we are familiar with. I have taken this into consideration and have given you a few different ideas that make this dish easy to make no matter where you are in this fun and diverse world we live in.
What are a shiso leaves?
If you are living in Asia, then you will love using Shiso (紫蘇) or perilla is a herb that grows throughout southeast Asia but is most often used in Japanese cuisine. This is a really lovely and refreshing herb. I think it tastes a little minty and has a little bit of basil flavor.
Alternatives to shiso leaves in our Shrimp Boats with Pickled Radish Recipe
However, if you are living in the Western World and do not have access to Shiso then a great alternative is using crispy endive with mint leaves as a boat for your shrimp. I just love these and had about 3 boats just to do a little taste testing...
Have you ever made a quick pickle? Our Lemon Diakon Radish Refrigerator Pickles are fabulous on top of these shrimp boats. You can also make quick pickles with thin slices of red radishes with a dash of rice vinegar, honey (or sugar alternative) and a little dash of white pepper. You could really quick pickle any vegetable you like but some other great alternatives would be thin micro slices of carrot or cucumber. Just take a look in your crisper to see what you have and go for it.
I had some left over yellow pickled diakon and pickled ginger from a sushi night and these were a lovely topping to the shrimp boats. Freshly grated diakon (Asian white radish) is also a zesty topping that goes well on top of these shrimp boats. Have fun with your topping options.
Eating healthy does not mean that you have to sacrifice flavors and these garlic shrimp are a perfect example of how just a few healthy ingredients such as olive oil, garlic and little fresh lime can really bring these simple flavors to the next level. I used a bag of already peeled and prepared frozen shrimp to save on time and less than 5 minutes flat these shrimp were ready to into my garnished boats.
More Delicious Healthy Appetizers for a Crowd
Gluten - Free Thai Shrimp Pancakes
Summer Rolls with Chili Lime Dipping Sauce
Skinny Spaghetti Squash Egg Roll Ups
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Shrimp Boats with Pickled Radish
Ingredients
Pickled Radish
- 15 radishes
sliced thin and julienned (you can also pickle carrots, cucumbers or anything your little heart desires) - ½ cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
or sugar alternative - 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper (add more if you want it spicy or less if like it mild)
Garlic Shrimp
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
peeled and minced - 16 -20 shrimp large peeled and deveined (can use frozen just run under cool water to thaw)
- salt and pepper
to taste - 1 tablespoon lime juice
Garnishes
- 10 leaves endive
or enough to hold 2 shrimp (also can use Shiso (紫蘇) or perilla leaves instead) - 30 leaves mint leaves (approximately 3 per endive leaf so about 30 leaves total)
- Lemon Diakon Radish Refrigerator Pickles garnish as desired with pickled ginger, pickled diakon or even shredded diakon
Instructions
- Make the Quick Radish Pickles. Place julienned red radish, vinegar, sugar or sugar alternative, salt and white pepper in a bowl and stir. Set aside. (You can also use cucumbers, carrots or any vegetable you desire to make into a quick pickle. In addition you can use already prepared pickles like pickled diakon, pickled ginger or even just shredded Asian radish- diakon and just have them diced up and ready to go)
- Prepare the garnishes. Place 10 slices of endive leaves on a plate with the curved side facing down so the shrimp can fit inside just like being on a boat. Place about 3 mint leave in each endive leaf. You can also use shisho leaves and they are both crispy and minty tasting.
- Place oil in pan/wok and heat up. Add garlic and cook just until translucent. Add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper and quickly stirfry over medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp are no long translucent. Drizzle fresh lime juice over the shrimp. Set aside.
- Assembly: Place 2 cooked garlic shrimp on top of each endive with mint slices or one shrimp on top of each shiso leaf. Place a little quick pickled radish on top of each shrimp. Enjoy!
Larry says
I would work on my family shrimp boat to avoid mandatory overtime at the hospital.
dutchgoesitalian says
Oh I love shrimps…I should really try your recipe. Sure I'll love it 😀
wendy@chezchloe says
I love to grow shisho- I'm not sure if I can get it outside of the seattle asian markets. But the endive works and this will be a good one for the Academy awards party we go to.
mjskitchen says
What perfect little bites after all the heavy meals from the holidays and the cold January we had. I'm a huge fan of pickled veggies and I bet they are excellent on this garlic shrimp. Thanks for another delicious bite of goodness Bam!
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
Love these shrimp boats! They remind me of sushi, which I love!
thelady8home says
Wow Bobbi, those look yummm yumm yumm!! Just gorgeous.
thatskinnychickcanbake says
What a gorgeous nibble!!! I need to pickle some radishes---what a yummy garnish!
gourmetgetaway says
OMG Bam, we could polish off 2 plates of these!!! So juicy and plump!!!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Kumar's Kitchen says
such colorful shrimp boats...we could easily confuse them being served in a Japanese restaurant...they look flawless and perfect....and that hint of green from Sisho leaves makes it complete....a healthy,delicious and attractive recipe,thanks so much 🙂
Abbe @ This is How I Cook says
These are beautiful! And so are the photos! Love anything with garlic and I also love radishes. What an elegant starter. And so much the better that it is healthy!
dianeskitchentable says
These are absolutely beautiful. You have such an eye for presentation and color - you're a food decorator! I can't tell you how many times I've made dinner, looked at my husband and said "oops, looks like another brown night". Thanks for the lesson in pickling. You know that's one of those things that I never knew you could actually make...I figured it all just came in little jars.
GiGi Eats Celebrities says
I am drooling for that shrimp "crunch"!!!!! I haven't had shrimp in an eternity!
yummychunklet says
What lovely presentation!