If you are serving the shrimp in polite company, peel them first, starting with 1kg. (Use the heads and shells to make shrimp stock: boil them for about 30 minutes, then strain through a colander into a bowl.) Or to save time, buy peeled fresh shrimp.
500 grams whole fresh shrimp, with body size (excluding the head) about 6cm long
Cornstarch, as necessary
1 onion, about 250 grams, peeled
4-6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 thin slices peeled ginger
6-8 stalks Chinese celery
4-6 spring onions
4 small dried chillies, about 3cm long
2-6 red bird’s-eye chillies
½ tsp freshly ground black peppercorns
15ml light soy sauce
10ml rice wine
5 grams granulated sugar
Cooking oil, as necessary
1 Thoroughly rinse the shrimp, then drain them in a colander. Lay the shrimp on the work surface, then cut off and discard the hard part of the head, slicing just behind the eye. Devein the shrimp: make a shallow cut down the back from the head to the tail to expose the vein. Use the tip of a toothpick to hook the vein and pull it out slowly. Lay the shrimp on a clean kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture while preparing the other ingredients.
2 Cut the onion in half, then slice into half-rings about 3mm thick. Halve the garlic cloves, then thinly slice them. Cut the Chinese celery and spring onions into 2.5cm lengths. Slice the bird’s-eye chillies into thin rings, shaking out and discarding as many seeds as you can.
3 Put the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar into a small bowl and add 60ml of warm water. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
4 Put some cornstarch into a shallow dish. Pour oil into a wok to the depth of about 9cm and place it over a medium flame. Heat the oil to 180 degrees Celsius. While the oil is heating, lightly dust the shrimp with cornstarch to cover them completely, then shake off the excess. Fry the shrimp in batches, cooking them until they are pink and curled (less than a minute), then drain them on paper towels.
5 Pour off almost all the oil from the wok (no need to wash it) and place it over a high flame. When the wok is very hot, add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir-fry for about a minute. Add the Chinese celery, spring onions and dried and fresh chillies and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Stir in the black pepper, then add the fried shrimp and mix well.
6 Stir the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar mixture and drizzle it into the wok. Stir-fry the ingredients so they are lightly and evenly coated with the seasonings, then turn off the flame. 7 Scoop the ingredients into a dish and serve immediately.
Stir-fried shrimp with sugar peas
Sugar peas look like a cross between flat snow peas (mange tout) and shelling peas. They are much sweeter than both, and unlike the latter, can be eaten pod and all. If you can’t find them, substitute snow peas.
This recipe calls for shelled shrimp, but I prefer to buy whole shrimp with heads and tails and peel them myself – this way, you know they are fresh. But if you want to save time, buy 250 grams of peeled fresh shrimp.
500 grams whole fresh shrimp, with bodies (excluding heads) about 6cm long
300 grams sugar peas
1 garlic clove, peeled
10ml fish sauce
½ tsp granulated sugar
1/8 tsp finely ground white pepper
Fine sea salt
About 15ml cooking oil
1 Remove the heads, shells and tails from the shrimp (save them to make stock for another dish). Cut a slit along the back of each shrimp and pull out the vein. Put the shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with five grams of salt. Mix well with your hands and leave for about a minute. Thoroughly rinse the shrimp in cold water and drain in a colander.
2 Snap off the stem tips of the sugar peas and pull off and discard the tough strings. Halve the garlic clove.
3 Mix the fish sauce with the sugar and white pepper.
4 Place a wok over a high flame. Pour in the cooking oil and swirl to lightly coat the wok. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry for about 15 seconds. Add the sugar peas and cook for about a minute, stirring often. Add the shrimp and the fish sauce, sugar and white pepper mixture and stir well. Let the ingredients simmer, stirring often, until the shrimp are pink, curled and just cooked – about two minutes. Taste the ingredients and stir in a little salt, if necessary.
5 Scoop the ingredients onto a plate and serve immediately.
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