In my never ending search for tasty shrimp recipes I came across this recipe for Goong Maa Now or Thai lemon shrimp. Like many Thai dishes this one is a perfect melding of sweet, sour, hot and salty. This recipe calls for kaffir lime leaves which were a bit difficult to find. Luckily they keep really well in the freezer and the bag that I picked up has lasted a long time. This is another super quick shrimp dish that takes almost no time to make. The lemon and coconut milk added an amazing flavour and aroma and of course this dish would not be complete without my favorite herb, cilantro. These lemon shrimp could easily be served as an appetizer or as a meal along with some rice or pasta.
Thai Lemon Shrimp
Shrimp in a lemon-y sweet chili sauce that is just bursting with flavour!
ingredients
- 1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 1/3 cup Thai style sweet chili sauce
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, sliced or 1 lime, zest
- 1 teaspoon chili sauce or to taste
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
directions
- Marinate the shrimp in the sweet chili sauce, lemon juice, lemon zest, kaffir lime leaves, chili sauce, fish sauce, garlic and sugar for 10 or more minutes.
- Heat a pan over medium heat.
- Add the shrimp along with the marinade and the coconut milk and simmer until the shrimp are cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and mix in the cilantro.
Sweet, sour, hot AND salty??? Too good to be true!! :0D
Ooooh, gorgeous! I am definitely sending this recipe to my friend Lisa – you know you have a wonderful foodie friend when kafir lime leaves are their idea of a perfect present! (I really did mail her kafir lime leaves for her birthday, and I know she’ll be so excited about your beautiful recipe! 🙂
Another winner in the house. Fabulous.
This dish looks amazing, that sauce is pretty exiting – sweet, sour, hot and salty!
I just love shrimp with Thai seasonings. And this looks lovely.
Yum yum! This looks so delicious! I never made shrimp with coconut milk, only with chicken, and this looks sooooo good!
Oh wow Kevin!
I’m definitely gonna make this!
Shrimp + chili sauce + sugar = always, without fail, bound to be a hit 🙂 You always seem to make a lot of food, Kevin! How many people do you feed?!
Def like the coconut milk with the shrimp. You ever try Dim Sum Kevin?
How am I going to enjoy my dinner after seeing that gorgeous picture? Cilantro is my favorite herb too. Another mouth watering recipe Kevin.
This looks awesome, Kevin! I am addicted to Thai food, especially with seafood. I have got to try this one!
that’s a blast, man! burst of flavors 🙂
Great dish – Looks so good. Love the blend of the sweet and sour.
Cheers
Cathy
http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com
A complete winner, and of course cilantro is my favorite herb too (although I’m getting pretty fond of dill these days. I think I like all the herbs!)
The colors in this photo are just fantastic too, good job!
I wish I could eat as well as you do! Yout shrimp dish looks fantastic!
I’ve been looking for a recipe that use kaffir lime leaves and this happened to fall into my hands.
Thanks — I can almost taste the dish from here and it tastes delicious.
This is the most beautiful plate of food I have seen in a long time.
Just looking to that pic i am drooling and then u explain thetaste it is to drool more.
Looks super delicious
Wow that looks fantastic! I really want to eat that now – I will have to give it a go.
before i read the post i thought it was tom yam soup..but reading the ingredients it sounds even better!! i love all these flavors!!
This, some steamed rice and a platter of baby bok choy will be heaven!
I’m not so keen on the coconut milk but otherwise the flavours sound lovely. And beautiful presentation you’ve got there, nice plating.
That look delicious. And even though it’s 8 in the morning, I’d totally eat that now 🙂
Kevin- This is a fabulous dish. I don’t know how shrimp could get any better. Well done.
Another recipe that looks amazing, you have not posted 1 thing yet that does not look incredible!
Sounds fantastic! Would have to find the kaffir lime leaves, tho!
Kevin, this looks amazing! Gorgeous colors in the photo.
wow kevin,feels like heading straightaway to the kitchen.Absolutely gorgeous.
I think you just solved the “what’s for dinner?” question here. Looks fantastic!
This looks so good. I love Thai food too, what a beautiful photo.
I can’t think of anything that hasn’t already been said. It’s well thought out, obviously delicious, beautifully photographed… see what I mean?
🙂
First of all, this photo is stunning. It makes me want to reach in and try a bite!! And the flavors all sound so amazing!
Increibly simple and QUICK. Awesome for those two reasons alone. But, this actually looks delicious. I love all the flavors.
Thai lemon shrimp looks gorgeous! Your shrimps always look so colourful and appetizing.
Mmmm, this has to be one of the best sounding shrimp dishes I have seen in awhile. The ingredients sound amazing – adding the coconut milk is a great idea!
looks lovely. that sauce is beautiful. definitely a great idea to use palm sugar
Looking at your photo … I could taste those delicious looking shrimps. I could almost reach through my monitor and grab one.
This dish is gorgeous…just need something to mop up that sauce.
Ooooh Kevin, can you bear another drooling admirer?
Stunning photo… absolutely stunning!
Shrimp ranks up there in my top 5 list of all-time favorite foods, so I’m definitely going to give this dish a whirl. I can’t wait to soak up the compliments on presentation alone!
Beautiful pictures!!
Okay, I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful this sounds!
ooh! ooh, ooh, oooh!
Looks really good, Kevin. I’d love to slosh those shrimp around in their Thai sauce.
Fantastic photograph of what looks like an awesome dish. I think shrimp just made it on my shopping list.
Your prawn recipes never fail to make me drool :)~~
Mmmmm – and thanks for the tip about the kaffir lime leaves / freezer
Joanna
That is a nice looking dish. Great presentation and love the flavors.
That looks killer good. So? Where did you find kaffir lime leaves?
-Elizabeth
Elizabeth: I found the kaffir lime leaves at the St Lawrence Market.
this looks ammmmmaaaaaazing!!!! i’m definitely going to try that. i’m such a quack of a cook but this looks like something even i could do. nice! i’ll be back for more recipes!
great flavour combinations, but immaculate presentation.
10/10 from me!!!
That picture looks great.. awesome recipe.
wow, i am definitely making this!!! i LOVE thai food and this looks great 🙂
I just made this tonight as an appetizer..the sauce is outstanding..I would highly recommend it..
I like this photo – how was it? I find it takes a good few tries to get the flavours of each Thai dish right – simple ingredients, but needs the right mix.
I made this dish for a family lunch. Fantastic. The lemon and Kaffir flavors are wonderful and so easy.
It was super!!! I think I must have put more coconut milk in than you did because mine looked 'creamier' than your pic. I used the zest of an entire lime and all of its juice(no lemon).
Another great tasting shrimp/prawn dish. (btw I use medium shrimp.)
Kevin – this looks yummy but do you have any rec's on which brand of chili sauce and sweet chili sauce to buy?
Anonymous – I like the mae ploy brand.
I make this…and loved it!
Stumbled across your blog recently- keep posting! I've tried quite a few things and have enjoyed them all.
WOW !!!! What a wonderful blog! I was searching for a Shrimp recipe and came across yours through "GOOGLE Images" (!). I was VERY impressed by your "Thai lemon shrimp" picture (and of course your travel experiences). After two hours reading through your blog, I had to test your recipe !
ABSOLUTELY divine !
I will definitely keep you in my "favorites" and revisite regularly.
N. from Ottawa….
This dish look so delicious. I have to try it out because I love shrimp
I'm always looking for good thai recipes, and this one looks great!
Do you think I could use dried Kaffir Lime Leaves and have it turn out properly?
Terri-Lynn: I would try to go with the fresh kaffir lime leaves or replace them with some lime zest. If you do get the fresh kaffir lime leaves, they store well in the freezer.
THIS LOOKS AWESOME!
Wow, I just made this tonight… It was sooooo good! But yet so simple! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was FANTASTIC. I served it over some udon noodles and my belly is very happy.
DELICIOUSSSS! It's now in my personal recipe book. We loved it!
Thanks Kevin. Didn't change a thing it was perfect.
I've had this recipe saved for sooo long and finally made it last night…amazing..as usual!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Did this for dinner tonight it was yuummmmmy thank u.
Tried it last night. It's really good! It's also easy. And did I mention, it's really good!
Super tasty and super easy to make!
Even great with tilapia, as I didn't have any shrimp on hand.
OH YEAH! Tasty tasty!! Great idea!! 🙂 Thanks for the shrimp recipe!
Just made this it is very easy , fast and very good.
Amazing! Kinda reminded me one of my recipes as well, although mine is more Mediterranean 🙂
Here, take a peek if you want: http://www.mayaskitchen.info/2012/08/29/shrimp-chraime-a-morrocan-dish-with-a-twist/
Just made this tonight–absolutely delicious 🙂
made this with fresh halibut. wonderful!!
I made this using only lime juice and it was delish but I cooked the shrimp probably 2-3 minutes longer than necessary. I served with rice noodles and had stir fried some zucchini, peppers and mushrooms as a side which ended up being really tasty mixed in with that yummy sauce. Kids didn't really go for it, but they rarely do. Will definitely make again, down the 401 in Ottawa 🙂
i'm constantly trying new recipes out on my family (which includes 4 men who think they are professional food critics). this was definitely one of the best new recipes i've tried in a while and it was relatively quick!
i followed the recipe to a T, using lime zest in place of kaffir leaves.
i served with stir fried bok choy, red pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini over noodles.
definitely making this again and again!!!
What exactly is the chili sauce used in this recipe? There is hot/spicy sauce (with the rooster on the bottle) but also another bottled version by Heinz that I've used in making cocktail sauce. Thanks.
Should this sauce be doubled if serving over rice or noodles?
Anonymous: I use srirachi (the rooster) but other forms of chili sauces like sambal oelek would also work. The Heinz chili sauce would just not be the same.
Anonymous: Yes, double the sauce if serving over something. You could never have too much! 🙂
Enjoy!
I'm definitely gonna make it this weekend for new year menu.
Sounds positively marvelous Kevin!
A lot of people say they will make this, but I actually did. I am not new to closet cooking and over the years I tried several of your shrimp recipes (oh how i love shrimps) and this recipe is so far the BEST.
Did not have the kafir leaves and I dount it is possible to buy where I live, but the dish was very decent with just the lime juice and a bit of zest for the extra kick.
I cooked it with chinese noodles by the way and did not regret it. Damn this was GOOD!!!! Thanks so much for all this awesome recipe.
I did it again 😀
I wonder though, would it it go well with some finely chopped red bell peppers and spring onion as well? What do you think Kevin?
Nadia: Bell peppers would be a nice addition!
Could this recipe work with marinated tofu as opposed to shrimp?
Anonymous: It would not be the same but it would be tasty!
This is amazingly good. We had it last night and guess what was requested tonight by my family?? The SAME dinner as last night… 🙂 It's marinating right now, but wanted to thank you for a wonderful new shrimp recipe. Love it and it's in my 'favorite recipe" folder on Pinterest!
We made this for the first time a year or so ago and it was delish! It's one of our favorites.
Looks delicious. I love that the shrimp is in a broth rather than a thick sauce and that there is just a bit of coconut milk…I bet the flavour is amazing.
Surprised there isn't lemongrass in this recipe — such a staple in many Thai dishes.
OMG , just cooked this recipe, my university aged boy , just took a picture of this , he said this looks and tastes amazing! Certain making this one again
Very nice recipe. Very authentic flavor. It has just the right balance of salty, sweet, hot and spicy.
"Thai Kitchen" brand sells kaffir lime leaves. I bought mine at Amazon.com
We've made this recipe several times and it never gets old. We started increasing the liquid x 2 (everything except for the shrimp) to have extra to go over hot Jasmine rice. This sauce is fabulous! Bamboo makes a nice addition as well. We LOVE this recipe. The whole family loves it!
Kilyena: I'm glad you like it! Extra sauce is always good! 🙂
hi kevin, i'm allergic to coconut milk and i usually stay away from recipes that include it, but your shrimp look so good, i'm wondering..would cashew milk work as a substitute? or maybe just heavy cream?
catzeye14120: You can replace the coconut milk with heavy cream, water or cashew milk. Enjoy!
thanks so much for answering so quickly. i'm so looking forward to this being dinner tomorrow, now 🙂
Looking for the nutrition in your recipes. They look good but have no idea how many calories, how much sodium, and so on.
The only real downside was there was no left overs at all! We will fix that next time