We got home from Florida yesterday afternoon with a big cooler full of fat gulf shrimp for a dinner party I am planning next month. Four
pounds of gorgeous head-on shrimp, frozen on the boat and as fresh as can be! To keep them frozen, we’d packed the cooler with ice. When we got home the ice was still frozen, but the shrimp, alas, were not.
Go figure. I am past the age when this would have made an interesting science experiment and could only sigh at the prospect of cooking shrimp for dinner again. Yes, apparently you can get sick of anything if you eat it night after night.
Since I have been craving Chinese, I got out my cookbooks and trolled around online looking for something shrimpy that sounded good. What I settled on was a hybrid of an epicurious recipe for stir-fried shrimp and romaine and a half-remembered recipe for shrimp with cashews.
I cleaned up about a pound of shrimp and butterflied them so they would cook quickly. The larger shrimp I cut in half lengthwise. I set them to marinate in a mixture of one egg white, a tablespoon of cornstarch, a dash of salt, and 2 tablespoons of dry sherry.
Meanwhile I soaked a handful of shitake mushrooms and when they were reconstituted, cut them into shreds. Chopped up three scallions and about 4 cups worth of heart of romaine. Minced a clove of garlic and a couple of thin slices of ginger. In a small bowl I mixed up some soy sauce (about 3 tablespoons), a splash of rice vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar, a few drops of sesame oil, and 3 tablespoons of sherry and set it aside.
I heated the wok over high heat and sizzled in about 2 teaspoons of oil. Threw in some hot pepper flakes and then half the shrimp. Tossed them in the wok until they were pink and cooked and removed them to a plate. Cooked the other half the same way and removed them too.
Added another teaspoon of oil to the wok and stir fried the garlic and ginger for a few seconds. Added the mushrooms, the scallions, and the lettuce and stir fried until the lettuce began to wilt. Poured in the sauce and cooked for another minute before adding the shrimp back in. Scattered ¼ cup of cashews in, and stir-fried it all together for 30 seconds.
Served hot over brown rice.
Dinner was good and even better, the house still smells fabulous. Now I am at the computer, trying to figure out how to fix shrimp tomorrow. Any ideas?????
My Plate or Yours 
Let’s see: jambalaya, tod mun goong, pâté, potted, or a classic shrimp salad w/ herb mayo. Enjoy your bounty!
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Another delicious way to serve prawns which I ‘borrow’ for tonights supper as I managed to score some raw prawns yesterday!
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Why don’t you pickle them? That’s what I’ve been planning on doing this week.
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oh i envy your shrimp overload 🙂
shrimp risotto?
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Sounds like a great way to solve a long term storage problem! The other night, I sauteed olive oil, saffron and shrimp and tossed it with angelhair pasta.
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Shrimp, I love and I don’t think I would get tired eating it daily 🙂
Ok, let’s see, what about a mild curry made with some coconut milk and served with basmati rice?
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This is what my mother used to call “a good problem to have.” It’s fairly common, but shrimp and macaroni salad is a big favorite in my family.
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Jambalaya, curry, risotto — and then steam the rest and keep them cold in the fridge to add to salads. Have fun!
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You guys are the best. As it happened, I was shrimped out and didn’t do anything at all with them last night and we are going out to dinner tonight, so I think I will take combine your suggestions and steam them — then pickle half and save the rest for a Thai curry tomorrow. I’d make a risotto in a heartbeat, but I am trying to eat light as much as possible. Darn!
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hey – a simple one. Saute a bunch of garlic, add shrimp and saute until done – reserve. Add really good chopped tomatoes, some white wine (red pepper flakes if you like)and simmer until thickened. Add fresh basil, plate and serve shrimp on top.
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Smoked, silly! :-0 To 125F, 130F was 5 degrees too many, 120 5 degrees too few.
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Try a pot of shrimp bisque; it freezes well!
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