Indonesian Grilled Tiger Shrimp with Satay Peanut Sauce

It used to be impossible to find fresh seafood in the mid-west other than trout and salmon, but now there are a lot more choices and availabilty. However, it's not like in Hong Kong where you can still go to the pier in the mornings when the fishing boats come in after their catch of the day, and you can pick and choose what you desire from that day's catch. That is what my girlfriend Rosie does in Hong Kong. Lucky gal!

Back on the tropical island just north of the equator, my mom had taught me some clues to whether the fish and shrimp is fresh. (It's all in the eyes, my friend.) Here, I have to settle for 6 in a package of headless tiger shrimp that are saran-wrapped, just hoping for freshness in the printed sell-by date on the package. The redeaming factor is that it comes with the shell split and the track along the back of the shrimp removed. All this for $18/lb. on sale. However, I'm lucky to have several wonderful food chains with healthy, organic options available here, and I have been lucky with the seafood purchased (so far!).

On with the tiger shrimps. I marinated it in tameric and chili spices, bbq-ed it, and served on a salad with satay sauce on the side. The shrimp was pretty good, even though I couldn't see it's eyes...