Boat Shrimp with Garlic and Couscous
Freeze-dried shrimp, a lot of garlic, and enough olive oil to make it count. Five minutes in one pot.
- calories
- 670
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 122
- protein
- 40 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 6 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Canoe / raft
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried shrimp | 1.5 oz | sold for camping or in Asian groceries |
|---|---|---|
| Couscous | 1/2 cup | instant, not pearl |
| Garlic granules | 2 tsp | more than feels reasonable |
| Olive oil | 1.5 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Smoked paprika | 1/2 tsp | |
| Red pepper flakes | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Lemon powder or a wedge | 1/2 tsp | citric acid works too |
Method
- Put the shrimp in the pot with 150 ml of just-boiled water. Lid on, eight minutes off the heat. They need the full time.
- Add 250 ml more water, the salt, and bring it back to a boil.
- Kill the heat, dump in the couscous, and cover. Five minutes untouched.
- Fluff with the spoon, then stir in the oil, garlic, paprika, pepper flakes, and lemon. Eat from the pot.
This started as a five-minute skillet dish off a boat in the Pacific Northwest: shrimp, garlic, heat, nothing else. The point was never the technique. It was leaving the seafood alone so it still tasted like seafood.
On the trail there is no fresh shrimp and no skillet, so the work moves to rehydration. Freeze-dried shrimp go rubbery if you rush them, hence the long covered soak before anything else happens. The couscous then cooks in that same shrimp water, which is where most of the flavor ended up. Garlic and oil go in at the end, off the heat — garlic granules scorch fast, and heating good olive oil wastes it.
Packing
Couscous and spices in one bag, shrimp in another. Keeping the shrimp dry until camp matters more than the weight you save combining them.
Variations
- Swap the couscous for instant rice if you want gluten-free. Rice needs more water and a real simmer.
- A splash of white wine off the boat is the original version. On foot, the lemon does the same job.
https://www.sailnet.com/threads/cooking-in-a-boat-recipes.336738