Without a doubt, Sarah Welch was the one to watch on this season of Last Chance Kitchen. Week after week, as new chefs were eliminated from Top Chef, and they came to Last Chance Kitchen to try and stay in the competition, Sarah’s knack for seasoning well, creativity and time management ultimately landed her back in the Top Chef competition.
To celebrate Sarah winning Last Chance Kitchen, we’ve recreated one of her winning dishes: spicy jerk shrimp larb. Sarah grew up in Jamaica and has travelled across South-East Asia cooking along the way, so when she was challenged to come up with a restaurant concept she created this twist on the popular Thai dish, adding Jamaican flavours! If you’re unfamiliar, Larb is a Thai chopped meat salad typically made with ground meat and lots of herbs. While it is an optional ingredient, we encourage you to try adding rice powder to the dish, it makes a world of a difference.
Like Andrea’s shrimp larb? Try this Jamaican curry shrimp recipe from Eden Hagos.
Watch the season premiere of Top Chef Thursday, March 20 at 10PM ET/PT on Food Network Canada. Stream Live or On-Demand with STACKTV. Try it free today!
ingredients
Jerk Shrimp
Jerk Sauce Vinaigrette
Assembly
directions
Ground pork can be used in place of shrimp. Optional to use lo mein noodles or sticky rice for serving.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together shrimp, oil, jerk seasoning and toasted rice powder (if using) until shrimp is evenly coated. In a grill pan over medium-high heat cook shrimp in batches, one and a half minutes per side. Place cooked shrimp on a cutting board and chop.
For the vinaigrette, place oil, lime juice, ginger, garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sugar, water and toasted rice powder (if using) in a food processor and pulse until smooth, around 2 minutes.
To assemble, top lettuce leaves with shrimp, green onions, basil, cilantro, peppers (if using), cucumber and radishes. Repeat to make all 10 lettuce wraps. Drizzle with jerk sauce vinaigrette and enjoy!
