North shore shrimp

In Oahu they have a truck that prepares garlic shrimp on the north shore roadside. It is the best shrimp I have ever had and I have tried to fiqure out their recipe which they won't give up. Garlic,oil, wine, spices and who knows what else. Have any of you eaten there and does any one have the recipe?

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Giovanni's Shrimp
****1/2 based on 10 reviews

03/28/2006 *****

Love shrimp? Be sure to stop by at Giovanni's Shrimp Wagon ~ either at Kahuku or Haleiwa and order a plate of dozen (scampi style - loaded with garlic!!) shrimp with two scoops of rice! The shrimp are prepared one of three ways ~ (really) hot & spicy, grilled with lemon-and-butter and (my choice & most popular) scampi.

What's a drive in the country without shrimp? Garlicky good shrimps? Yum!!!!!!!

Kenny B.

Reviews
Written: 117

04/06/2006 *****

I'm starting to drool just thinking about this place. The shrimp here is go great, especially with the breeze and the smell of the ocean nearby. Hot rice to go with this on a sunny afternoon sitting in the shade and looking around at the scenery? Cannot be beat.

Poppy C.

Reviews
Written: 27

02/17/2006 *****

I never really ate A shrimp before until I came here one hot lazy afternoon. They are a classic shrimp truck...sitting on a patch of grass by the side of the road on your way up to North Shore. You must stop and have their Shrimp Scampi...you will never have a better version in your life. The tables are usually dirty and it is crowded with celebs and tourists. But who cares about that! THE SCAMPI is out of this world...so much buttery garlic. Something about eating food in Hawaii makes it taste so much better:)
Book a flight and get your ass to Giovanni's...now!

Kyle C.

Reviews
Written: 21

09/21/2006 *****

Eat shrimp from a truck? YES! And it's tasty! Shrimp is one of those foods that can taste like trash when it's not prepared correctly. Giovanni's has fresh shrimp cooked to perfection. They offer several different types of plates. I had the extra spicey plate and one plate wasn't enough. The oil, the garlic, the pepper and oh yes, the shrimp. I bet you can't just eat one!

While you're there... get a sharpie and sign the truck!

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Jessica C.

Reviews
Written: 41

09/20/2006 ****

I never leave the island without having a plate of shrimp scampi. It's soooo good. I never really cared for shrimp, but when it comes to Giovanni's, I'm there. There's other shrimp trucks around, but by far, I think this is the best place. Make it a day trip around the island. Before you reach North Shore, have lunch at Giovanni's.

Eat it with your hands, it's okay!

Arnold G.

Reviews
Written: 124

08/25/2006 ****

Oooooh....Giovanni's. Often imitated but never duplicated. Giovanni's is the real North Shore shrimp truck. The lemon-butter shrimp is good, but the classic scampi is really the way to go.

Don't be fooled by the others that are around. Make sure it's Giovanni's Shrimp Truck before you stop the car. You didn't drive up to North Shore for the other guys did you?

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Peter C.

Reviews
Written: 53

07/21/2006 ****

If you're like me, when you visit Oahu, you enjoy everything about your trip except for the lack of good food. Come here to fix that. Best shrimp scampi I've ever had was from this shrimp truck. Yes, this is a truck off the side of the street that serves up some tasty shrimp. Interestingly enough, they actually don't get their shrimp from the nearby shrimp farms; it's cheaper for them to buy shrimp from mainland U.S. People say that Romy's Shrimp Shack is the best shrimp you can get along the North Shore, but I liked this place much better.

Greg S.

Reviews
Written: 28

07/10/2006 *****

I really can't say enough about Giovanni's! On a one week trip to Oahu, my partner and I ate here 3 times. That's how good it was. And it's quite a drive from Waikiki, but it's so worth it!

A must have is the garlic shrimp. The hot and sour shrimp comes in a close second, but always had to default back to the garlic shrimp. I've never had shrimp like this before! Two mounds of white rice covered in garlic encrusted shrimp. It can get messy, but who cares!

Don't stop for just any shrimp truck along the side of the road. Look for Giovanni's...it's the one with the writing on it. You won't regret it!
Joan P.

Reviews
Written: 176

05/23/2006 ****

Oh I love the garlic shrimp here! The shrimps are ginormous and so tasty! The lemon butter, and spicy shrimps are great too. Ummm and top it off with a smoothie. I always stop by this place when I'm in O'ahu.

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Charlie D.

Reviews
Written: 125

03/03/2006 ****

Shrimp so good you'll think you need more, but you won't be able to fit it... Don't look for glamour, cats roam around and wait for you to drop anything. They run out of some dishes, so make it a lunch stop, and don't fall for any other shrimp truck, they aren't half as good._______________

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2006-10-09 09:59 ]

Yeah, get plenny shrimp trucks up Kahuku side. Real ono grindz, go getum, go. (An get some fo me, k?)

There's a place on La Cienega in Los Angeles that serves up what might be a close replica of those shrimp:

http://eatingla.blogspot.com/2006/03/taste-test-uncle-mokis-original.html

The owner used to be a part-owner of Giovanni's on the North Shore. But he says he uses olive oil instead of saturated fat. It probably affects the flavor some. Still, I think I'll try it out.

Sabu

Some pics of the original:

On 2006-10-09 15:48, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
There's a place on La Cienega in Los Angeles that serves up what might be a close replica of those shrimp . . . I think I'll try it out.

Sabu,

Let me know when you hit Uncle Moki's - I live walking distance away!

Thanks Sabu,

I am going to try out Uncle's shrimp soon. Those pictures of Giovanni's brought back some great memories .. If anyone can fiqure out the recipe you can. So how do you think the shrimp is made? We just made your famous Sabu chicken which was excellent by the way and I want to thank you for sharing your secret recipe with us.

Hi Ojai,

I've actually never tried Giovanni's White Shrimp, but your post got my mouth watering, so I did a little online research. Shrimp Scampi has got to be one of my favorite dishes in the world, and I don't get to indulge myself near enough. I'm good at modifying an existing recipe to my taste, but not sure how good I'll be at deciphering ingredients when I try out Uncle Moki's. The spicy coconut chicken recipe was a modification of a Martha Stewart recipe, if you can believe it.

Chris - Let's definitely try to hit Moki's next week/weekend. PM me or I'll PM you after the weekend.

Sabu

Did some more searching and found this

my wife loved this shrimp plate we got in hawaii during our honeymoon and i would like to make this at home. all i can tell about the plate was there was ALOT of garlic, lime, and a hint of italian dressing/mustard...

anyone have a recipe they can share?

i was thinking of sauteing garlic in butter and olive oil, toss in the shrimp and a few scallops, cook, throw in some green onions, a little cilantro, lime juice, lemon, salt, pepper, and a dash of mustard or italian dressing, and serve over rice.

thoughts about this?

Perhaps you are refering to Giovanni's Shrimp Scampi from Oahu?
ive read through a blog that listed the ingrediants to the sauce. seems pretty basic, olive oil, lime juice, butter, garlic, salt, pepper,and white wine.

any thoughts on how i should go about replicating this recipe for my wife?

It's pretty simple to do shrimp this way. It's basically just sauteeing the garlic in the oil until just soft, them toss in the shrimp and toss over high heat until they are barely cooked, then finish off to taste with everything else, keep the heat high to quickly reduce the wine and liquids a little bit and to meld the flavors together, slide them onto your plate and eat! If you serve it with pasta, you can just add the pasta at the end to heat and coat with the pan stuff, and slide it all onto your serving dish.
It's quick and tasty!
As for quantities--for a half-pound of shrimp, I'd use a couple tbs oil(or clarified butter), a couple or three cloves of minced garlic, half a lime squeezed, a small knob of butter and ~1/4 c wine, S&P to taste.

This post has been edited by chefcyn: Jul 8 2005, 11:53 AM
Oh my GOD!!!! I loved that shrimp truck - I was in Kaua'i in early June and had lunch there, too. I will think on the flavors and get back to you.

Megan Blocker
Specialist, New York
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wow..thats much better than any recipe i ever came across.....

i tried it this morning. the ingrediants seems pretty near the original but something was still lacking.

i added a little more lime and a small amount of grey poupon mustard and i think it is much closer.

it seems that i will have to go for a little more sour and sweet. maybe i should add a little sugar and more lime?

i do know one thing though, you can never have enough garlic! Lol

the picture looks like it might have a little corn starch slurry?? kinda has that sheen. whatever ,,it looks great!

I improvised pretty much the same recipe, without the garlic, for dinner last night. Pure heaven, even though it was paid for with a half hour of purgatory beforehand, deveining the shrimp. Just white wine wine, olive oil and Old Bay. Don't peel the shrimp after deveining, since the shells add lots of flavor. Anyway, the shells are easier to get off (though messy) after cooking.

"The Best of the Best from Hawaii Cookbook" http://www.powells.com/biblio/71-1893062627-0 has a couple of garlic shrimp recipes, including one from the Shrimp Shack in Punalu'u on the North Shore. Doesn't appear to be the same shrimp shack as Giovanni's, but recipe might be similar.

The book, btw, I highly recommend. Tons of fairly simple recipes gathered from the Islands.

Hey Sabu, did you check out Uncle Moki's shrimp yet? I saw a show on Epicurious recently where Michael Delmonico made a scampi shrimp dish where he reduced clam broth and added it to the sauce. Maybe thats part of Giovanni's recipe?

Rum Balls, I ordered that book you mentioned, lots of great recipes and the side stories are great.

Ojaitimo

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2006-10-25 10:13 ]

Recieved this e mail

Hello,

I saw your post about the shrimp recipe and was wondering if anyone had written you back about it. I have been trying for 3 years to figure out the recipe (esp. now since I am pregnant!!). The best I have come up with is:

1/3 cup Olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, 1 tbs paprika and 1/4 cup dry white wine - - marinate overnight.

1 1/2 pounds shrimp (deveined but with shell on), fry very hot until half cooked.

Saute a TON of butter with 10 cloves cut up garlic slowly and add shrimp.

Serve over cooked rice (use bagged not minute).

Hope this helps..... If someone sent you something different or if you can think of what I am missing - please let me know!
Thanks