Early on in the Hawaiian trip, we went to Merriman’s for happy hour on the northern side of the island. They are a gourmet restaurant that specializes in Hawaiian food. While we were there, I bought their cookbook. This recipe is called Ulapalakua Beef and Shrimp Kabobs, and if you have a grill, you should make this! And while restaurants on the island use a lot of local ingredients in their dishes, for the most part, we can get everything here on the mainland and it will be just as good! We only added a couple of pineapple slices to our kabobs as we’re not big pineapple people, but we thought this dish was good with and without pineapple. Enjoy!
dipping sauce
Ingredients:
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger root
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced
Directions:
Mix all ingredient in a bowl and set aside.
shrimp and beef kabobs
Ingredients:
16-20 uncooked, peeled, deveined shrimp
1 1/2 lb boneless New York strip steak, cut into 1-in cubes
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 in. cubes
1 sweet onion, cut into 1-in. squares
1-2 red bell peppers, cut into 1-in. squares
Vegetable oil
18 bamboo skewers, presoaked in water
Directions:
Presoak the bamboo skewers. Set aside.
Prepare beef and shrimp: Place shrimp and cubed beef into separate shallow bowls or pie plates. in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, black pepper and kosher salt. Sprinkle half the seasoning over the shrimp and toss to coat: sprinkle remaining half over beef and toss to coat.
Assemble kabobs: Assemble the kabobs by alternating pineapple, onion and peppers with either shrimp or beef. When threading shrimp, push the skewers point through the back and then through the tail so each shrimp lies flat and cooks more evenly.
Cook kabobs: Heat the grill, then oil it or coat with cooking spray. Grill kabobs for 3-7 minutes per side (you want nice grill marks without overcooking). Shrimp are done when they turn pink. Beef can be cooked to degree of doneness.
Note: To oil your grill, place a few tablespoons vegetable oil in a bowl. Crumple a paper towel, pick up with tongs, dip in the oil and wipe the grill.
