Pineapple Shrimp for Johnny Tsunami

It would have been more appropriate to find a traditional Hawaiian recipe to cook for Johnny Tsunami night. But pineapple is a major throughline of the film, representing Johnny’s relationship to Hawaii. He’s eating it when he finds out he’s moving to Vermont, he gets the slop/canned pineapple for his first school lunch in Vermont. It’s a very important symbol throughout the film. Outside of the film, the pineapple has been used as a symbol of hospitality. In case you missed the date night I used this for, catch up here:

@kelseydeters

It’s Disney Date Night ##2! ##disneydate ##disney ##disneyadults ##datenight ##dolewhip @brodiemann18

♬ Up Beat (Married Life) – Kenyi

So I felt a pineapple focused dish would have been perfect for Johnny Tsunami night. I remembered a shrimp dish I had at a local Mexican place that came served inside a carved out pineapple half, or pineapple boat, and I figured this would be a great chance to cook it.

I went with this Pineapple Shrimp recipe from Delish. It was simple to follow with easily accessible ingredients, save for the rice wine vinegar. I couldn’t find that in the store, so I substituted in the red wine vinegar I had on hand. It’s not explicitly stated in the recipe, but make sure you do get the pineapple chunks down in size, slightly smaller than a cooked shrimp. They’ll cook thoroughly, and you won’t end up with “undercooked” pineapple.

The best part is this was great the next day, served over rice. My method for rice is melt half a stick of butter with a teaspoon of garlic (just get the jarred stuff), add two cups of minute/instant rice once the butter is melted, stir to coat, then add two cups of liquid, with a chicken or beef broth as the primary liquid. I usually do about 1.5 cups of broth, and add beer, spices and/or sauces to pair with whatever I’m making to go with the rice. I had a mango wheat beer on hand, so I mixed that in, and it gave a nice tropical taste to the rice to fit in with the pineapple shrimp. Crank the heat to high to get a boil going, then drop it to low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, however long it takes for the rice to soak up the liquid.