photo #1885935

A bowl of cooked shrimp. They look so innocent and tasty.But watch out! They pack some serious HEAT!One isn't so bad but it is sneaky: the heat starts to build AFTER you've chewed and swallowed, and continues to build as you eat more.Recipe:1lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, but tail on3 cloves garlic1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional: smoked or not)1 Bhut Jolokia pepper (fresh or dried), destemmed2 tablespoons olive oilRoughly chop garlic and pepper. Combine with oil and blend in a small blender. Fry this for about 3 minutes on medium heat, optionally with the paprika (toward the end, for color).Add shrimp, tossing to coat, and fry until pink.Lay shrimp on paper towel to drain excess oil and chill in a bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.Serve with a warning.The thing is you can actually taste the shrimp and garliciness before the heat hits.Now, these are very hot, but not insanely so: shrimp cook so fast that getting them to pick up any flavor is quite hard (short of, perhaps, a marinade, and even then). I've tried with habaneros (up to three of them) and it just does not transfer enough heat. You really do need a Bhut Jolokia or a Morgua Scorpion to get the right heat level.