Stir-Fried Pepper and Salt-Shrimp
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I burned it. This wonderful Stir-Fried Pepper and Salt-Shrimp dish. Oh my goodness. The smoke detector sent off a piercing sound. The wok was too hot, the oil beyond boiling. The minced garlic and ginger strips had turned black. But the shrimps were sizzling, bright orange, shiny and smelled irresistible.
This was my first entry for Wok Wednesdays and I burned it. How on earth do you mess up a simple shrimp stir fry, you probably wonder. I’ve cooked more complex dishes, baked longer recipes. And nothing like this happened.
I was multi tasking while stir-frying. This is what happens when a dish is SO EASY to cook. I read the recipe through, checked my shrimps, my wok, and the rice was cooked. The shrimps were gigantic, freshly bought and promised to be superb. I was over confident. I was also super excited. I’d been wanting to join the “Wok Wednesdays” group, who stir-fry a few times a month from the splendid “Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge” by wok-expert extraordinaire, Grace Young.
There were many similar flavors to Filipino food in this gorgeous stir-fry cookbook. I’ve had this book for the past two years and have cooked numerous times from its delightful recipes. I’ve followed Grace’s recipes and wok instructions religiously and obediently. But this time, for the blog post, I was just too confident I was going to breeze through it. And because it seemed so easy, I started to bake a pie, simultaneously. Yes, I am guilty of multi-tasking. The pie was easy to do, and so was the shrimp in a wok. But too easy, I ended up burning the garlic and ginger.
Ultimately, here’s what it all came down to. A beautiful, picturesque shrimp dish that was heavenly! The garlic-gingery aroma penetrated through the fresh flavors of the jumbo shrimps. A sprinkling of salt and pepper was all I added and quickly I saw the shrimps sizzle in the wok, turning a bright pinkish orangey hue. I moved them around the wok, and the shiny, succulent seafood bits looked splendid. Quickly, I poured them over a mountain of steamed jasmine white rice and garnished the plate with chopped scallions. Supper was served!
Stir-Fried Pepper and Salt-Shrimps
Equipment
- large wok
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound large shrimps peeled and deveined (about 12 pieces jumbo sized)
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black peppercorns
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 knob (about 1-inch) fresh ginger peeled, sliced like matchsticks
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine 1 tablespoon of the salt with 1 quart cold water. Add the shrimp and swish the shrimp in the water with your hand for about 30 seconds. Drain. Add 1 more tablespoon salt to the bowl with 1 quart of cold water and repeat. Rinse the shrimp under cold water and set on several sheets of paper towels. Pat the shrimp dry.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, sugar and peppercorns.
- Heat a 14-inch flat bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of the oil.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and using a metal spatula, stir-fry 10 seconds or until the aromatics are fragrant.
- Push the garlic mixture to the sides of the wok. Carefully add the shrimps, and spread them evenly in the wok.
- Cook undisturbed for 1 minutes, letting the shrimp begin to sear. Swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and stir-fry 1 minute or until the shrimp begins to turn orange.
- Sprinkle on the salt mixture and stir fry 1 to 2 minutes or until the shrimp are just cooked. Serve with steamed jasmine white rice and garnish with chopped scallions. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Notes on Nutrition: The nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.
Did you like this recipe?I have more Filipino Instant Pot recipes in my newest cookbook Instant Filipino Recipes: My Mother’s Traditional Philippine Cooking in A Multicooker Pot by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino. I also have more classic recipes inspired by my mother’s cooking in my popular cookbook: My Mother’s Philippine Recipes. If you’re learning how to cook Filipino food or a fan of Philippine cuisine, buy my cookbooks and books on Amazon.com sold worldwide in paperback and Kindle format.
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Oh no! Grace advises no multi-tasking while stir-frying. Ha ha ha. Your dish LOOKS fabulous!!
Thanks, Cathleen. Crisis averted. The stir-fry shrimp dish was delish and the pie was perfect. A future post on the pie is forthcoming. Glad you came by!
Oh my. This is like something I would do! Stir-fry and pie at the same time? Glad you saved the shrimp… looks beautiful. How about that pie?
Hi, Jacqueline! Lol, the pie was perfect, thanks for asking. As for this stir-fry shrimp it was a classic! Thanks for stopping by:-)
Welcome to Wok Wednesdays. Your shrimp look wonderful. They don’t seem to have suffered for all the multi-tasking. I know I sometimes feel like I’m running a race when I’m stir-frying.
Thanks, Judy! I appreciate the kind, encouraging comments. This shrimp dish was fantastic, all the fiery drama aside! Glad you stopped by.
It’s so funny that whenever I get too confident about something, God has a way of slowing me down (usually by me burning something or my cake fails to rise, though the other day I went to get a tall lamp to add more light to the kitchen to take pics and smashed the bulb on the doorway, sending shards of glass into my donut batter and the whole thing was ruined!). When I make things to say thank you or express my feelings or just as a creative outlet, they come out the best… and chances are, those are the times when I’m without a camera. Funny how life works, eh? 🙂
Thanks, Kelly! Your wise words are so true. Such is life. And we learn from these lessons. The easier it looks, the more we need to pay attention or else. Ugh, I feel bad about your lamp breaking into the batter. Glad you stopped by, so nice of you:-)
Oh, Betty, I know this is not being a very nice person and God is not happy with me right now. But, honestly, I took some pleasure in knowing that your garlic and ginger strips burned. At times I feel as if I am the worlds only food blogger who screws up occasionally. Now, my better other side is welcoming you to WWs, thinks your dish looks amazing (and, not burned) and knows that it took a rather confident cook to admit, the first time out of the wok-gate, that all was not perfect. Welcome aboard.
Hi Mary! Thanks so much for your kind comments and taking the time to be so encouraging. I’m so honored to be welcomed within the wok-gates by you, Grace and all the wonderful wokkers! What else could I do but come clean. I only had ONE POUND of shrimps, had the last remaining piece of fresh ginger, was down to a few cloves of garlic and I thought I could easily wing it. I learned my lesson here. The easier the recipe, the more I have to pay attention. Glad you stopped by!
the photos made me hungry! and yeah, i’d like to believe you’re not a cook unless you’ve made a few blunders here and there, because that’s how we learn and build ourselves up. 🙂 and usually the results are still great, like this one!!!!!
Thanks, Gio! So kind of you to be supportive and forgiving of my errors. Like I said earlier, lesson learned, always be careful when cooking. Glad you came by!
Hi Elizabeth,
That looks incredible! I love shrimp and this is making me hungry.
Hi Asmita! Thanks for the kind comments and the blog-visit!
This does sound delicious! I know what you mean…sometimes our perpetual multi-tasking gets us in trouble! A little reminder to slow down and smell the roses I guess 🙂
Thanks, Joey! This salt-shrimp stir fry is delightful especially if the seafood is freshly caught that day. You must try this soon!
Me, too!!! I have burned many a dish due to distraction. I always think I have some magic radar to bring me back to the pan just in time. Love your photos and delighted you are doing Wok Wednesdays! I’ve missed most of the summer dishes, but will be back on the stovetop with my wok in September.
Hi Nancie! You’re right,we seem to think a magic magnet will instantly bring us back to the stove top. But this was a delightful recipe from the Wok Wednesdays list, I couldn’t resist. Thanks for the blog-visit ~ I’m so honored you stopped by. Enjoy your summer trip in Bangkok !