Today’s Wok Wednesday recipe choice has been a brain-buster for me. Not only is this dish bursting with flavor, but it sent my mind reeling with menu variations, those “with this I can do that” moments. While that may be a “Well, duh” moment for most of you, please understand that I’m a by-the-book cook. Really, I’m a by-the-book, black and white, follow-the-rules Person. My Goal? Get to GRAY.
When joining Wok Wednesdays I also thought I was introducing myself to a cuisine which I could successfully master and utilize portion control. Unless entertaining, I cook for “one” and am not particularly fond of never-ending leftovers (remember, I don’t improvise) or frozen anything. With today’s recipe, I was able to cut it in half, without sacrificing flavor.
Although I love Chinese food, enjoying it in restaurants and to-go, I’ve not done homemade successfully. Grace Young’s cookbook, “Stir-Frying To The Sky’s Edge” is impressive and well-written. With her guidance, perhaps, I thought I could conquer the basics and move on to at-home Chinese glory. Surprisingly, Grace also responds to each WW participant’s Post, answering questions, pointing out problems and encouraging novices. Last week I received an e-mail, a comment and a Tweet from her. I didn’t even know I belonged to Twitter!!!
This week we made Classic Dry-Fried Pepper and Salt Shrimp. DO NOT MISS TRYING THIS. The entire recipe can be found on Grace’s own Site, http://www.graceyoung.com/recipes/. Although Dry Stir-Frying, a new technique for me, seems like an oxymoron, it’s actually classically Chinese and a stir-fry intended to have only enough sauce to cling to the main ingredients. Love that, don’t you? Simple to make. Few Ingredients. So satisfying.
And, this week, thanks to my daughter, Melissa, who was horrified to read that I was woking with a skillet, I received a new, gorgeous wok. Don’t you just love to embarrass your kids? Thanks, Mis.
My question to you, Grace, is about Brining. Because I was using frozen shrimp and dry cooking it, I first put it in a cold, sugar water Brine for 20 minutes. Then, I also swished it two times for 30 seconds each in salt water as you specified. I eliminated the sugar in your recipe. I thought the sugar brine would pop the flavor more. Any thoughts on that?
Last night I enjoyed my Shrimp with plain rice and Tsingtau, my favorite Chinese beer. I could not have been happier. Tonight, as I march onward to GRAY, I’m using my few leftovers to make a New Orleans Shrimp Po’ Boy, Chinese-style.
With apologies to Paul Prudhomme and Emeril.
The post SIMPLY WOK-DERFUL: CLASSIC DRY-FRIED PEPPER AND SALT SHRIMP appeared first on Lights On Bright No Brakes.