Culinary SOS: Roberto’s <i>gambas</i> Mozambique from Espa&#241;a Restaurant

Dear SOS: Last summer, my girlfriend and I spent our vacation on Florida’s Amelia Island. We stopped by a lovely, quaint Spanish restaurant in Fernandina Beach called España. Its gambas Mozambique (shrimp Mozambique style) was extraordinary. I’d love the recipe so we could enjoy this fabulous dish more than just once a year.

Keith Johnson

Rancho Palos Verdes

Dear Keith: If I didn’t know how easy this dish was to make, I’d be planning a cross-country trip to Amelia Island too. Large shrimp are poached in a rich sauce flavored with garlic and spice, fresh lemon, coconut milk and a few dashes of hot sauce. Serve it with plenty of bread — as amazing as the shrimp are, you don’t want any of that sauce to go to waste.

Total time: 25 minutes

Servings: 2

Note: Adapted from España Restaurant on Amelia Island, Fla. The restaurant recommends serving this dish with your favorite bread.

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 heaping teaspoons chopped garlic

1/4 cup diced onion

16 to 20 large shell-on shrimp (21- to 25-count per pound)

1/4 cup beer

1 teaspoon Sazon (also spelled Sason) with cilantro, a prepared Latin spice blend (a similar Latin spice blend may be substituted)

2 tablespoons butter

Tabasco, or another vinegar-based hot sauce, to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup coconut milk

Sea salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot and add the oil. Stir in the chopped garlic and diced onion and cook until aromatic, 1 to 1½ minutes. Stir in the shrimp, then add the beer, Sazon, butter, a few dashes of hot sauce (or to taste), lemon juice and coconut milk. Poach the shrimp in sauce, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Taste and season with a pinch of salt, or as desired. Divide the shrimp and sauce in two wide, shallow bowls, and sprinkle over the cilantro. Serve immediately.

Each serving: 576 calories; 31 grams protein; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 46 grams fat; 21 grams saturated fat; 303 mg cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 1,924 mg sodium.