Spicy Chinese Shrimp (Pepper Salt Shrimp)

[fitfool]

I don't even know what to name this dish. (edit: both of my parents have responded that the name of the dish is Pepper-Salt Shrimp) My mom showed me how to make it. I love how you can eat the whole shrimp, shell and all, for a spicy, salty, crunchy shrimp dish. Once when I ducked into a Chinese restaurant on the tail end of lunch, the table next to mine was filled with college-age women, all white. They were talking and laughing and one of them kept looking at me. I thought she was wondering why I would show up for dimsum alone and for once was feeling self-conscious about dining alone. But as they were leaving, she held out a plate of this shrimp dish and asked if I wanted it. "We didn't touch it," she explained. "We didn't realize it would have the heads on the shrimp." What luck! (and don't worry, for this recipe, we trim the heads off)

The food pictured in this post was prepared by my mom. I cooked it too tonight on my own but hers was more photogenic. Thanks Mom!

Spicy Chinese Shrmip

1 jalapeno pepper
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 spring onions (just the green tops)
shrimp (if using frozen shrimp, thaw in a bowl of cold water)
potato starch (or can just use flour)
salt and pepper
vegetable oil (for deep frying and stir-frying)

1. Slice the jalapeno into rings. Side note, if your eyes are itchy, don't itch them until you've had a chance to wash your hands. Ow.
   
2. Peel and slice the garlic
   
3. Cut the spring onions into long skinny rectangles about 2-3 inches long
   
4. Trim the shrimp. With these frozen shrimp, the head had already been trimmed off. The only part I had to trim was the sharp pointy piece near the base of the tail. If your shrimp still have heads on, also trim the sharp pointy part on the top of its head as well as the tip of the head.
   
   
   
   
5. Salt the shrimp and sprinkle with potato starch (or flour)
   
6. Heat about an inch of oil in a small pot. Oil is hot enough if you sprinkle water in and the water droplets sizzle.
   
7. Deep fry the shrimp until it turns bright red/orange (pretty quick...watch closely)
   
8. When you remove the shrimp from the hot oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper right away. At this point, the shell will be crispy and crunchy while the meat is still tender.
   
9. In a pan, heat some oil and stir fry the deep-fried shrimp along with the hot peppers, garlic, and green onions.
   
   
   
   
   

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