Gambas al ajillo—or simply garlic shrimp—is probably one of the best-known Spanish tapas around the world. It’s extremely simple to make at home, and with this recipe, you can bring a little memory of a real Spanish summer into your kitchen any day.
Gambas al ajillo and tapas
This is a very simple appetizer, small bite, or bar snack that belongs to Spanish tapas culture. It’s worth mentioning that tapas are usually understood a little differently around the world. In Spain, it means a small, simple dish served in local bars and eaten with drinks. And by bars, don’t picture elegant cocktail bars, but rather the kind of casual café-beer-snack places where locals might stop in even daily to socialize.
The word tapa itself—tapas is the plural—means lid or cover. According to the most widespread explanation, drinks were originally covered with some kind of small bite, such as a slice of bread, ham, or cheese, to keep dust or insects out. Whether this happened exactly this way is hard to prove, but the name itself shows very well what tapas are about: a small portion of food eaten not as a separate main course, but alongside drinks and conversation.
Gambas al ajillo simply means garlic shrimp, or a little more precisely, shrimp prepared with garlic. Gamba means shrimp, gambas is the plural, and al ajillo refers to a garlicky way of preparing something. Ajo means garlic.
So let’s treat this dish for what it is. It isn’t a Michelin-starred creation, and it isn’t a main course served with a white tablecloth and crystal glassware. It’s a simple Spanish appetizer or bar snack—and its charm lies exactly in that simplicity.
A few important thoughts on making it
Perhaps the most important tip is not to overcook the shrimp under any circumstances. The cooking time naturally depends on the size of the shrimp and the exact heat, but for medium-sized, cleaned shrimp, roughly 60–90 seconds—that’s not a typo, one to one and a half minutes—can be enough. If you cook them much longer than that, they will turn rubbery. As soon as the flesh turns opaque, becomes firmer, and curls up slightly, take the shrimp off the stove immediately.
The other important point is to make it with the best-quality ingredients you can and with raw shrimp. Simple dishes like gambas al ajillo can be fantastic, but precisely because they are simple, it’s worth paying even more attention than usual to things like the olive oil you use.
Of course, raw shrimp are not easy to get everywhere. Raw can naturally mean frozen—far from the coast, there probably isn’t much other option. But let the shrimp thaw before cleaning them. You can read about how to clean shrimp by clicking the link, and I suggest making shrimp stock from the shells.
When it comes to ingredient amounts, feel completely free to adjust them. First, as far as the shrimp is concerned, let’s be realistic. You will probably buy it in whatever package size is available. For tapas or an appetizer, you can count on about 3.5–5.3 oz (100–150 g) of cleaned shrimp per person, and if you want a more generous portion, of course you can add more. Second, none of the other ingredient amounts are set in stone either, so you can adjust the final flavors to your taste. And when it comes to the chile pepper, naturally use as much as suits your guests’—or your own—tolerance for heat.
Traditionally, the garlic is added to the oil in slices—not crushed or chopped very finely—but it doesn’t need to be sliced too thinly. Pepper is not a required ingredient, but if you use it, choose white pepper instead, because it has a more delicate effect and visually suits this simple, light-colored dish better too.
Serving gambas al ajillo
As written above, this is tapas, basically an appetizer or a bar snack. That’s how it’s worth thinking about serving it too—in other words, don’t think of it as a main course.
You can bring it to the table on a small plate, even better in an earthenware dish, or perhaps in a small skillet. Offer fresh bread with it, because mopping up the mildly spicy, garlicky chile olive oil is a special pleasure even alongside perfectly cooked shrimp.
Gambas al ajillo
Ingredients
- 14 oz shrimp, cleaned 400 g
- 3 tbsp good-quality extra virgin olive oil 40 g
- fresh chile pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- parsley
- salt
- white pepper
Instructions
- First, clean the shrimp. For gambas al ajillo, I even remove the tails.
- Finely chop the parsley, slice the peeled garlic, and cut the chile pepper into smaller pieces.
- Heat a skillet thoroughly over high heat. Once it is hot, pour in the olive oil.
- Add the garlic and stir. Immediately add the chile pepper, then the shrimp.
- Cook over high heat for about one minute, until the shrimp are cooked through. Turn them once or a few times as they cook.
- Take the skillet off the heat, and season with salt, white pepper, and the finely chopped parsley.
- Serve immediately.
