Ethnic Paris: Spicy shrimp from the Indian Ocean

Easy, flavorful Shrimp Rougail (Rougail de Crevette), originally from tiny islands in the Indian Ocean, is one of many exotic taste treats found throughout Paris—and in The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. Cumin, fresh ginger and a fiery little Thai pepper make it a lively main course.

LAST WEEK I WROTE ABOUT CRÊPES, calling them the ultimate French comfort food. And they are indeed quintessentially French, as are old men in berets, accordion players on the Paris Metro and six-week vacations.

But in Paris, there’s a whole other culinary world besides crusty baguettes, café au lait and stinky cheeses. As with many major cities, Paris is a magnet to people from all over the world. And those people bring their cooking with them, giving each neighborhood or arrondissement its own special flavor.

On one visit to Paris, for instance, Marion went with our friend Marianne, who lives in Paris and who was born in Hong Kong, to the 13th arrondissement for lunch. The 13th really is a mix of things Paris was and has become—the pretty little Butte aux Cailles neighborhood, a tiny quiet 19th century enclave; and the biggest Chinatown in Paris. The latter was their destination. They perused a high-rise shopping mall and then had lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant. What impressed Marion most that day was that all of their transactions there in the heart of Paris—in the restaurant and in the mall—were conducted in Mandarin. English would get you nowhere, French and German would get you nowhere.

As further proof of the diverse wealth of Paris, just take a look at The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. Sarah over at The Delicious Life recently received a review copy and generously offered it up as a prize in an impromptu drawing. And I won!

This colorful cookbook has more than 100 recipes from internationally renowned chefs who have come from all over the globe to make Paris their home. Everywhere from Cameroon to Cambodia, China to the Caribbean.

And then there’s the delicious, lively shrimp rougail above, from the Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius. Nominally part of Africa, these tiny specks of land some 500 miles east of Madagascar are more shaped by their inhabitants’ ancestries—Indian, African, Malagasy, Chinese and ethnic French—and by their ties with France and Great Britain than they are by their proximity to the African continent.

Rougail can be a fiery condiment or a simple, spicy tomato-based sauce as it is in this easy-to-make main course, which I adapted from the book.

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Shrimp Rougail

Originally from tiny islands in the Indian Ocean, Shrimp Rougail is one of many exotic taste treats found throughout Paris.
Course Main Course, seafood
Cuisine French
Servings 2 to 3

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon grapeseed or other neutral oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1- inch piece (about 2 tablespoon) fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 Thai chili, partially seeded and minced (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 14-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 pound uncooked shrimp, in the shell (or not—see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • steamed white rice

Instructions

  • Heat a large, heavy, lidded saucepan or skillet over a medium flame. Add oil. When it is shimmering, add onion, garlic, ginger and chili; sauté until onion is soft, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Sprinkle in cumin, salt and pepper and stir, cooking until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Raise heat to medium high and add shrimp, stirring to coat. Cook until just done, 3 to 5 minutes, turning shrimp to cook on both sides. DO NOT OVERCOOK or shrimp will become tough.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in fresh cilantro and serve immediately over rice.

Kitchen Notes

How hot is hot? Susan over at Food Blogga recently did a great post on the hottest of the hot peppers, the habanero. Being mainly a user of jalapeños, it put heat in perspective. On the Scoville Heat Scale, a red bell pepper is rated 0 for heat. The jalapeño ranks from about 3,000 to 5,000, depending on who's counting. By comparison, the habanero is a scorching 200,000 to 350,000! The original recipe calls for an African bird's-eye chili (aka African Devil), which comes close to the habanero for heat. I went for the easier to find but still respectable Thai chili, a mere 70,000 to 80,000 on the Scoville Heat Scale.
Taming the heat. The heat in peppers comes from capsaicin, found in the seeds and veins, or ribs—the whitish ridges inside the pepper. By removing the seeds and ribs, you take away virtually all of the fire. With the fiery little Thai pepper for this recipe, I removed all but about 1/3 of the veins and kept only a half dozen or so seeds. Even that little bit made the dish respectably hot. I might up it a tiny bit next time, but these tiny peppers definitely pack some heat. You could also substitute a jalapeño and use however much of the seeds and veins you usually do. The dish calls for heat, but you can control what that means for you.
Shells on, shells off on the shrimp? Chef Rafiq Hamjah, owner of Paris restaurant Comme Sur une Ile and creator of the original recipe, insists on using unpeeled shrimp for this dish. Leaving the shells on definitely boosts the flavor of the shrimp. It also makes this a hands-on meal, one I would classify as "not first date" food. On the other hand, you may view it as a first date litmus test, seeing just how messy a potential partner is willing to get in pursuit of good food.
Shelling and deveining uncooked shrimp is a semi-pain, so I applaud a recent development I've been noticing in the stores: Shrimp with shells intact, but split down the back with the "vein" removed. It's easy to shell them before cooking, or you can cook them in the shells (as I did here—and yes, it upped the flavor), knowing they'll be easy to peel as you eat and that no gritty vein is lurking within.

 

Also this week in Blue Kitchen, 4/16/2008

Revisiting the French film that got me hooked. Maybe I like French films more than some of them deserve, but see The Two of Us and you’ll understand why, at WTF? Random food for thought.

Revisiting the man who put me off jazz. Oliver Lake’s fierce avant garde saxophone maybe isn’t the best introduction to jazz. Rediscovering it later, though, is a real treat, at What’s on the kitchen boombox?

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18 thoughts on “Ethnic Paris: Spicy shrimp from the Indian Ocean”

  1. *phew*

    so glad the book got to you safely! and wow…the shrimp looks fanTAStic. no wonder the authors only did drawings in their book – they must have known food bloggers would make and take gorgeous pix of the dishes! 🙂

  6. Sarah—Thanks again for the book! I look forward to mining it for more great recipes.

    Mary and Rachel—Thanks! It is delicious—and quite simple to make.

    Mike—That’s the beauty of this cookbook. It shows how global the cuisine of Paris has become. Americans are great borrowers of other cuisines; it’s a great surprise to see other countries doing this.

    Melissa—Drat indeed. Parsley might be a good substitute, bringing a nice freshness to the dish.

  9. I love Thai chiles in soups, sauces, and on shrimp! These is such an easy and delicious recipe, Terry, that’s perfect for a mid-week dinner. And thanks for the shout out; I really appreciate it.

  12. Helmut and Zoomie—Thanks!

    Susan—I still have a couple of those Thai chilies left. Any ideas?

    Kevin—I’d never thought about it, but shrimp does seem to go very well with spicy, doesn’t it?

    Other Susan—Welcome to Blue Kitchen! I didn’t think I was a particular fan of “messy” shrimp, but after trying this, I’m pretty sure I am.

  13. Okay, so I was going to go to Netflix and put La Vie en Rose on my list, but I decided to read your more recent post first, and now I have ANOTHER film to put on my queue.

    Great looking book and recipe. How fun to win a book!

  14. Greetings – I found you via a comment on Gourmeted (it really does pay to leave meaningful comments! 🙂 ), and I am so glad I did. I am blown away by your site, from your tag line to your recent insightful articles on France. Thanks to for providing so many resources and links to other high quality blogs – It is greatly appreciated, and they will be used. Food Blogga is next on my list 🙂

    Thank you for writing – Your site is definitely one of the best finds I’ve come across in weeks.

    The very best to you,
    Metroknow
    http://www.almostfit.com

  15. Metroknow—Thank you so much for your kind comment! A quick look at your blog about taking a sensible approach to eating and weight loss [aka eating real food in moderation] tells me I’ll be back for more.

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