Monday, January 23, 2012

The Year of the Dragon, or How I Learned to Cook Great Shrimp



My Christmas ornaments can be useful all year round.

In honor of the new year, I cooked Chinese food last night.

I made egg rolls, Dragon Beans, Lemon Basmati Rice, and Wok-Flashed Shrimp.  And I learned something.

I just love the juicy shrimp from Chinese restaurants, but when I cook shrimp at home all their moisture oozes out and I am left with chewy pink nuggets.  I think this recipe solved my problem.  Make sure the shrimp are really dry.  Toss them in a mixture of cornstarch and spices.  Stir-fry them quickly over high heat.  Wow!  They were perfect.

The rest of the meal was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself, but the egg rolls were a lot of work. All that chopping (cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro, mint)!


Happy New Year (新年快樂)

3 comments:

Susan said...

I agree that the secret to great meat and shrimp is the cornstarch/spice coating before stir frying! My friend who taught me called it "velveting."

smalltownme said...

I wish I'd known the secret years ago.

Anonymous said...

I have a Chinese friend who is an amazing cook. I've watched her prepare food many times, but when I do it at home, it never tastes the same.
I'm going to have to try that cornstarch/spice coating...