Sweet Spicy Shrimp

This recipe ratio is a definite keeper. It was delicious. I'm not even sure if shrimp has a harvesting season, like crab or other larger seafood. But, I definitely have seen a wide range of prices for raw shrimp; from $5.99/lb (Fubonn, before asian food holidays) up to $13.99/lb (Costco, Trader Joe's). Certainly before the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, shrimp prices were cheaper by a couple of dollars per pound. And, rather than turn this post into a ecowatch rant, here are the directions.

I didn't have any shallots nor cilantro on hand so I omitted both. The cilantro is just for color.

The Foodening Blog: sweet chili shrimp, ready to eat

Ingredients

1 lb raw shrimp, shelled and de-veined
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
(optional) 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
(optional) 1 small shallot, finely chopped

Marinade for Shrimp

2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp sea salt

Sauce for Frying

1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp raw honey
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2-3 tsp red chili paste

Directions

1. Clean and rinse shrimp. In a large bowl, mix shrimp, cornstarch and salt together. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, or refrigerate until ready to fry.

2. Prepare sauce: combine soy sauce, honey, vinegar and chili paste. Set aside.

3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil and swirl the skillet to spread the oil around. Add garlic and ginger. Stir fry until the oil is fragrant and the garlic hasn't browned. Add shrimp and fry until the shrimp changes color from light gray to salmon pink, about 2-3 minutes. Pour in the sauce and stir until well combined.

4. Transfer to a serving dish and top with (optional) cilantro. Serve hot.

Fish Fragrant Eggplant

I'm pretty sure that fish doesn't smell like this. Heck, this dish doesn't even have any sort of fish essences in it. But, as the origin goes, these are the same Szechuan (Sichuan) flavorings used for preparing fish so that it is sweet, sour, and spicy. I added a step to this by baking the eggplant before frying to shorten the fry time of cooking the eggplant since I didn't want to deep fry the eggplant in a lot of oil. Maybe when I do this recipe again, I should cook it with fish instead of eggplant and see how it tastes.

Fish Fragrant Eggplant

Sauce Ingredients

1 tbsp chili bean sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp organic granulated sugar
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 c water

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb Japanese eggplants, cut into 2" pieces and quartered
1 tbsp chili black bean sauce
2 stalks green onions, sliced into 1" pieces
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

In a 9" x 13" baking dish, add sliced eggplant and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F; or bake for 25 minutes if you don't want to wait for the oven to preheat.

1. In a large frying pan or wok, heat oil and add garlic and ginger. Lightly brown the garlic before adding the eggplant. Fry for 5 minutes.

2. Next, add the sauce, cornstarch and water. Fry until all the eggplant is coated. Add the green onions last.

3. Remove from heat and serve with steamed rice.

Steamed Black Bean Chicken

I don't know why I haven't tried steaming chicken before. The meat turned out very tender and delicious. This could just be one of those 30-minute meals. I imagine that a slightly longer cook time would be needed for thicker cuts of chicken, such as the thighs. For this attempt, I used chicken drumsticks (1 lb 7 oz).

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs chicken parts
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp chili black bean sauce -or- 2 tbsp fermented black beans

Directions

0. Remove chicken from package and rinse with cold water. Place it in a heat-proof bowl that is large enough to accommodate the chicken. Pour boiling water on the chicken and blanch for 1 minute. Discard the water in the bowl.

1. To the chicken: add garlic, ginger, cornstarch, soy sauce, and chili black bean sauce. Mix thoroughly so that the chicken is coated with everything.

2.  Bring a large pot of water to boil, large enough to fit both a steamer basket and the heatproof bowl.

3. Cover the pot and steam chicken for 30 minutes, until the juice runs clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, or the meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F. Let rest, covered, for 10 minutes.

For this amount of meat and time, the thick part of the drumsticks measured between 175 F and 185 F (a bit overcooked, oops).