Asian Shrimp Boil with Asian Dipping Sauce

What do you serve when it is entirely too hot outside to cook, but you have raw shell-on shrimp in the fridge?  If you are me, you make a shrimp boil.  If you are Alex, you propose making an Asian shrimp boil.  Then he got a little worried that the Asian shrimp boil wouldn't be Asian enough so he proposed making an Asian dipping sauce to go with our Asian shrimp boil.  At that point, why not?  I figured that an Asian shrimp boil sounded like an interesting proposition and his Asian dipping sauce could be interesting too.  So we went for it.  And it was pretty tasty.  It was also very summery and easy to make.  If you make just the shrimp you won't be wowed by the amount of Asian flavor in the shrimp, but it is tasty nonetheless.  I highly recommend making the shrimp and the sauce if you want the full effect.  If we had only made the shrimp I might have longed for a more traditional shrimp boil with heaps of Old Bay.

Recipe after the jump!

Asian Shrimp Boil with Dipping Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 lemon, cut into quarters

1-inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into coins

2 bay leaves

1 large garlic clove, lightly crushed

3 scallions

2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp whole coriander seeds

3 tbsp soy

1 lb large shrimp, shell on

For dipping sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp canola oil, divided

1 tsp fresh garlic, minced

1/2 of a serrano chili, finely sliced (or to taste)

1 scallion, thinly sliced on the bias

Bring a large pot of boiling water to a boil.  Add ginger, garlic, scallions, crushed red pepper flakes, coriander seeds and soy.  Add shrimp and cook until just cooked, about 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile combine all of the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Serve shrimp with dipping sauce.