Kung Pao Shrimp

[Travis McGee]

The GF had never tried Kung Pao anything (which I could hardly believe),
so I made the shrimp version for her tonight. This is adapted from "The
Chinese Cookbook" by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee.

1 pound medium raw shrimp
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/4 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
5 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon Chinese chili paste (I used Huy Fong, which has a nice
fruity taste, and is not terribly hot)
1 tablespoon sherry or Shaoxing rice wine (I used Shaoxing)
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 scallions, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup dry roasted, unsalted, unseasoned peanuts
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used peanut, but any random salad oil
will do, as long as it has a fairly neutral flavor)

Peel shrimp. Mix with corn starch. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, chili paste, and wine.

Put oil into wok, rotating and tipping the wok to coat most of the way
to the top, and heat on medium high to sizzling. Add scallions, garlic,
and ginger; stir fry for a minute or two until fragrant.

Add shrimp, and stir fry until most, but not all, of the pink is gone.

Add wine mixture, and heat until boiling and thickened.

Serve over rice; we like Jasmine rice.

Things I might try next time are:

- With the garlic mixture stir-fry a few dried chiles japones. If used
whole, they add some fragrance but not a lot of heat, and they look very
nice in the mix.

- Adding some vegetables such as bell peppers, celery, or carrots

- I used cider vinegar, but next time perhaps balsamic, or maybe black
vinegar, and probably a bit less

- Use more chili paste, maybe 2 tablespoons

- Use cashews instead of peanuts

- Use another sweetener, such as palm sugar, jaggery, honey, etc.

[Travis McGee]

Oops, after adding the sauce, add the peanuts.

[Brooklyn1]

On Tue, 02 Dec 2014 02:17:17 -0500, Travis McGee <nob...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Diced bok choy stems and snow peas...

>> - I used cider vinegar, but next time perhaps balsamic, or maybe black
>> vinegar, and probably a bit less
>>
>> - Use more chili paste, maybe 2 tablespoons
>>
>> - Use cashews instead of peanuts
>>
>> - Use another sweetener, such as palm sugar, jaggery, honey, etc.
>>
>
>Oops, after adding the sauce, add the peanuts.

Then add this:
http://www.amazon.com/Cocktail-Drink-Hawaiian-Parasol-Umbrella/dp/B000FAGW16
And the GF may give you this:
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Converting-Lei-Headband-Pink/dp/B00BMUGQKU/ref=sr_1_cc_5?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1417533363&sr=1-5-catcorr&keywords=paper+lei

[koko]

On Tue, 02 Dec 2014 02:17:17 -0500, Travis McGee <nob...@gmail.com>
wrote:

That sounds wonderful, copied and saved.

koko

--

Food is our common ground, a universal experience
James Beard

[Timo]

On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 5:12:49 PM UTC+10, Travis McGee wrote:
> - I used cider vinegar, but next time perhaps balsamic, or maybe black
> vinegar, and probably a bit less

Chinkiang/Zhenjiang vinegar, or some other Chinese black rice vinegar is the proper vinegar. A smaller amount of balsamic might work as a substitute, or balsamic mixed with white wine vinegar.

Zhenjiang is usually about 6% acidity.

[Kalmia]

If ya can't find the chili paste ( for those of us out here in the boonies), what could one substitute?

I'd prob. use rice wine vinegar ipo cider vin.

[Travis McGee]

I think you could get by with sriracha sauce. It would add a little
sweetness, but you would not have to use much. A regular vinegar-based
hot sauce such as Tabasco would probably be ok as well, maybe reducing
the vinegar a bit, and something like cayenne powder would also work.

The chili paste I used is not super hot, so if using a substitute I'd
add it maybe a teaspoon at a time, so as to not overdo the heat.

[Brooklyn1]

On Tue, 02 Dec 2014 20:52:55 -0500, Travis McGee <nob...@gmail.com>
wrote:

http://allrecipes.com/video/87/how-to-make-kung-pao-shrimp/detail.aspx