Shrimp with Spicy Asian Peanut Dipping Sauce

Like many of my appetizer recipes, this could be eaten as a light main dish.  The only difference would be in serving.  Five or six shrimp per plate with a dipping sauce bowl would be perfect.

Ingredients:

2 medium limes
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons Asian garlic chile paste (like Tuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, more for sprinkling
1 lb. poached, grilled, or steamed shrimp (16 to 20 per lb.), peeled, with tails left on

Directions:

1. Grate 1/2 tsp. zest from one of the limes and then juice both limes. In a food processor, blend the lime zest and 1/4 cup juice with the peanut butter, chile paste, and 1/4 cup cold water.
2.Add more lime juice and chile paste to taste, plus 1 or 2 more Tbs. water as needed to loosen the mixture to a thin dipping sauce consistency.
3. Transfer the sauce to a medium bowl and stir in the mint. Sprinkle the sauce with additional mint and serve with the shrimp.

Notes:

I haven't worked on the modifications yet, but I think this recipe will need some.  Personally, I thought that the sauce was too hot, and I like spicy food.  I tried to put some more lime in along with the water to dull the heat, but it didn't work. I did try the sauce again after it sat in the refrigerator for a day.  The flavors had melded nicely, but it was still hot.
Servings: 6

My Rating: ☆☆☆

Source:

The original recipe is from finecooking.com