The Dish: Grilled shrimp with roasted garlic, coconut kosho from Leo Restaurant & Bar in Center City
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- At the end of May, a brand new restaurant opened up inside the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.
It's called Leo and, of course, they offer a prix fixe pre-theater menu.
"It's exciting," says Executive Chef Chris Cryer. "It's been a long time coming. It's really good to have people in here, get some energy in here and cook some really good food."
Leo is on the ground floor of the Kimmel Center at Broad and Spruce. The menu, Cryer says, is seasonal.
"It's all about creativity and coastal Mediterranean food," he says.
It's named Leo after the legendary, late Philadelphia music director Leopold Stowkowski. Cryer says the buzz on Broad Street is strong.
"It's exciting," he says. "There's always something happening, and there's a massive amount of people that come through this space from all different spaces."
Today, we're in the kitchen making a dish that is perfect for summer.
"This time of year, people love to take shrimp, throw it on the grill. I think that this is a phenomenal summertime dish," says Cryer.
And the gorgeous gulf shrimp are the star of the show.
"Marinated in roasted garlic, served with a simple coconut kosho sauce with yuzu kosho. It's something that anyone can do at home, honestly," says Cryer.
Let's talk about that yuzu kosho. It's a very standard Japanese condiment.
"It's fermented chili, citrus zest, salty and a little spicy," says Cryer.
The dish also includes some peas, the first round of fresh peas for the season.
We begin with making our coconut kosho sauce. Add coconut milk and vegetable stock to a pot and let it simmer.
Next, add fresh lemon juice and the yuzu kosho and bring it to a slight boil. To finish off the sauce, bring in some cold butter and blend.
Now, in go the peas to simmer.
Next comes the shrimp, which we skewered.
"We're going to lightly season with salt and then you're just going to take this roasted garlic puree and you're just going to brush the shrimp," says Cryer.
Paint both sides of the shrimp with that garlic paste and head on over to the grill.
"This is the most important part, is you just let it sit. Don't touch it. Just let it sit. Don't futz. Don't mess with it. It's the most important part of the sear," says Cryer.
Grill the shrimp for just about three minutes on each side. Once cooked, dress it with a little sea salt and fresh lemon juice.
Place the shrimp in a bowl, add your peas and coconut kosho sauce.
Grilled shrimp with roasted garlic and coconut kosho recipe from Leo
Recipe feeds 4 people
Ingredients:
- 20 pieces gulf shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 24 cloves of garlic
- 3 cups of olive oil
- 1 cup fresh peas (boiled for 1-2 minutes and placed in an ice bath to blanch)
- Fresh lemon juice
- Flaky sea salt
- Coconut kosho sauce
Directions:
1. Place garlic in small baking pan with oil.
2. Cover with foil. Bake 250F for two hours or until golden brown.
3. Cool until almost room temp and then strain. You can reserve the garlic oil for more garlic later or other use.
4. With a fork, mash roasted garlic clove until smooth.
5. Skewer 5 shrimp each on 8 inch metal skewers.
6. Lightly season with salt and brush with roasted garlic puree.
7. Grill about 3 minutes per side until cooked through.
8. Season with fresh lemon and sea salt.
9. Dress with coconut kosho sauce and blanched peas.
Enjoy!
Coconut kosho sauce recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup green yuzu kosho (found in your local H-mart or specialty store)
- Salt to taste
Directions:
1. Heat stock, coconut milk in small pot and let it simmer.
2. Transfer to blender and blend with cold butter, yuzu kosho and lemon juice.
3. Season with salt.
