Giovanni's shrimp truck on the North Shore of Oahu has been serving the same plate since 1993 — shell-on shrimp fried in an almost scandalous quantity of garlic and butter, served over two scoops of rice, eaten at a picnic table under the Hawaiian sun. The recipe is not complicated. The quantity of garlic and butter is the point. This is ancestral fat cooking at its most direct: protein, fat, aromatics, heat.
The North Shore Shrimp Farms
The shrimp served at the North Shore trucks comes from aquaculture farms on the Kahuku plain — the flat agricultural land on Oahu's northeastern tip. These are fresh-water prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), farmed in the old sugar plantation fields. Head-on, shell-on shrimp are used specifically because the shell concentrates flavour during cooking and the head contains the hepatopancreas — a richly flavoured organ that melts into the butter as the shrimp cooks.
Head-On vs Peeled
Giovanni's uses head-on, shell-on shrimp. The shells and heads cook directly in the garlic butter, flavouring the fat with concentrated shrimp umami. Diners peel at the table — messy, but the flavour of the butter after the shells have cooked in it is incomparably richer than anything produced with peeled shrimp. For a cleaner eating experience, use peeled and deveined tail-on shrimp.
Serves 2 · Prep 5 min · Cook 10 min
Ingredients
- 500g large shrimp, shell-on (head-on if available)
- 150g unsalted butter
- 20 garlic cloves, roughly minced (yes, all 20)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt
- Lemon wedges and cooked white rice to serve
Method
- Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add garlic. Cook 2 minutes until golden and fragrant. Do not burn.
- Add butter. When foaming, add shrimp in a single layer.
- Cook 2-3 minutes per side until pink and curled.
- Remove shrimp. Reduce the garlic butter briefly for 1 minute.
- Pour over shrimp. Serve with rice and lemon.
The Garlic
Twenty cloves is not a typo. Giovanni's uses a quantity of garlic that would seem excessive in any other context. The garlic cooks in the butter until golden and sweet — long enough that the raw pungency is gone and the flavour is mellow and caramelised. The butter absorbs the garlic flavour completely, creating a sauce that is more garlic-butter than garlic. Pour every drop over the rice.
Can I use pre-minced garlic from a jar?
Fresh garlic only. Pre-minced garlic has a duller, sometimes sulphurous flavour that is noticeably inferior in a dish where garlic is the primary flavour.
What rice to serve with?
Short-grain Japanese rice or medium-grain white rice — the stickier varieties absorb the garlic butter better than long-grain.
Can I make this ahead?
The shrimp should be cooked and eaten immediately. The garlic butter can be made ahead and refrigerated — reheat gently and add the raw shrimp to order.
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