Dynamite Shrimp

 

This is a dish that both myself and hubby have been in love with from the very first time we tried it a few years ago at P. F. Changs. It is still my favorite shrimp dish. Shrimp all coated with the flavorful spicy sauce are just melt in your mouth delicious. I browsed over for the recipe and found one here. I made it a few times with a few tweaks and it has been a hit every time. This time around I made this for a potluck at husband’s office and from what I’ve been told everyone raved about the dish! Luckily it was my day off from work and I had a little time to take a few shots of this gorgeous dish.

Buy peeled and deveined shrimp to save time. At our local grocer, we had only peeled ones and as husband is always in-charge of cleaning and prepping the meat in our home, he carefully deveined the shrimp but it was time consuming! A simple batter of cornstarch, egg, salt and pepper is all that’s needed to coat the shrimp and then shallow-frying them in canola/vegetable/any high-smoke oil makes the shrimp tender and crisp. I like to serve this in a bed of stir-fried vegetables, specifically – carrots, cabbage, bell pepper and green onion. A splash of soy sauce and vinegar up the essence of the dish. I topped the dish off with some toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onion. Garnishing with bean sprouts and crispy noodles would also be great additions.

The dynamite sauce is what makes all the components of the dish come together in harmony. I’m not quite sure why this sauce is referred to as ‘Dynamite’ sauce but I would like to believe that it is because it is spicy and mind-blowing-ly good! It is a mix of just 4 ingredients – creamy mayonnaise, spicy sriracha, nutty sesame oil and tangy rice vinegar. A whole lot of flavors and taste profiles going on in an effortless sauce!

With the fried shrimp, the cornstarch, loads of mayo and other sauces as well, this course is a guilty indulgence for sure. So, it is not something we’d want to make very often. It is a great party starter. It’s vibrance will attract guests to the dish and the scrumptious taste will bring them back to the table wanting more.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Shrimp Fry – 

– 1n1/2 lbs shrimp – peeled and deveined
– 3 Tsps corn starch
– 1 tsp salt
– 1 tsp pepper
– 1 small egg or 3/4th of 1 large egg
– canola oil for shallow frying

Vegetable Stir Fry – 

– 2 tsps canola oil (or any other odorless and tasteless oil)
– 1 cup shredded carrots
– 1 cup shredded cabbage (green or purple)
– 1 cup bell pepper (use a mix of colors) – cut length-wise
– 1 cup green onion – chopped
– 1 tsp salt
– a splash of rice vinegar
– a splash of soy sauce

Dynamite sauce –

– 3/4th cup mayonnaise
– 1/3rd cup sriracha
– 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
– 3 tsps toasted sesame oil/sesame oil

Garnish-

– 2 tsps toasted sesame seeds
– 1/4th cup chopped green onions

Directions:

Frying the shrimp 
1. Take peeled and deveined shrimp with tails off and give a quick rinse under water. Let all the water drain and pat the shrimp dry.
2. In a mixing bowl, take corn starch, salt and pepper. Whisk egg in a small bowl and add to the corn starch. Mix well until it resembles a not too runny batter. It should just be enough to coat the shrimp.
3. Add shrimp to the batter and make sure all are well coated with the batter.
4. In a flat pan, heat enough oil to shallow fry the shrimp. Add batter coated shrimp to the oil in batches. Fry on each side for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove onto paper towel lined platter so that all the excess oil is soaked up.

Stir-frying the vegetables 
1. In a wide flat pan or even a wok, heat 2 tsps of oil, add bell peppers and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Then, add shredded carrots and cabbage. Saute for at-least 6 to 8 minutes on low-medium heat. Add salt and 3/4th cup of chopped green onions (save remaining for garnish).
2. When all the vegetables are soft and tender add a splash of rice vinegar and soy sauce. Saute for a couple more minutes and set aside.

Sauce
1. Add all the ingredients in a bowl and using a fork or whisk to mix everything well.

Assemble
1. With the stove on medium heat, add all the fried shrimp into the stir fried vegetables. Add the sauce and mix everything well, so that shrimp and veggies are coated in the sauce.
2. Remove onto the serving platter and garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions.

Notes:
– For the shrimp batter, whisk the egg in a separate bowl and then add as much is required to the batter. The batter shouldn’t be too runny. It should adhere to the shrimp.
– I used toasted sesame oil in the sauce, but you could just use regular sesame oil
– Toast sesame seeds in a small pan just for around 3 to 4 mins over low-medium heat making sure it doesn’t char. Toasting gives a nice, nutty depth of flavor to the sesame seeds.
– Use the whiter and light green part of the green onion in the stir fry. Use the top part or the dark leafy green part for garnish.