North Shore Shrimp Truck Shrimp

For several years some friends of mine lived on the Island of Oahu, and I was fortunate to get to visit them several times.  They introduced me to some great beaches, great hikes, great bars, but perhaps the most wonderful thing they introduced me to were the North Shore Shrimp Trucks.

These little rickety trucks are all over the Oahu North Shore, and there seem to be more and more every time I go back.  But the original truck was Giovanni's White Truck, which first went to shrimping in 1993, predating the recent food truck phenomenon by a decade or two.

Giovanni's serves their shrimp three ways--an original Scampi style, a Hot and Spicy, and a lemon-butter, which is basically the scampi minus garlic.  My fav has always been the hot and spicy, which is so hot and so spicy that they practically make you sign a waiver before they'll let you purchase them.  But their original scampi style is pretty darned awesome as well, so that's the one we'll feature today.

North Shore (Kahuku) Shrimp

1 Lb Large Shrimp (20-30 per Lb),
15-20 Garlic Cloves, Coarsely Diced
Juice of 1 Large Lemon
1 Stick Butter, Halved
Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes


This one starts with garlic.  Lots of it.

Dice the 15-20 cloves coarsely and place in a large Ziplock bag with a couple tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the red pepper flakes.  De-vein the shrimp and, if you want to be authentic, leave the shell on.  That's how they do in on the North Shore.  Here, I've gone ahead and shelled them as well.  Either way, take the shrimp and add them to the Ziplock.  Toss to coat the shrimp well.  Let sit a few minutes.

Meanwhile, melt half the butter in a small saucepan.

Melt the other half in a large skillet.

When the skillet butter starts to foam, toss in as many shrimp as will fit without crowding.  Cook about 2 minutes and then flip the shrimp.

Maybe a little longer if you went with shell on, but just let them start to get pink.  Nothing worse than overcooked shrimp.

Once the butter in the saucepan his melted, add the rest of the garlic to it,

as well as the lemon juice.

Cook your shrimp in batches until finished.

Drizzle shrimp with the garlic/butter/lemon sauce and serve immediately, preferably with some steamed rice and a bit of extra lemon for garnish.

A simple dish, yes, but sometimes it's good to keep things simple.  Particularly if you're running on island time.

Until next time,


Hang Loose,


Chris