Kung Pao Shrimp

Submitted by Stephanie Y.

"Hot, sour, sweet, savory and packs a fiery punch! From Yan Can Cook- Martin Yan. Did I mention that this was fiery hot?!!!! You might want to cut the heat a bit, but we love our mouths to catch on fire!"

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 340.19 g medium raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 9.85 ml cornstarch
• 2.46 ml salt
• 1.23 ml white pepper
• 29.58 ml cooking oil
• 1 onion, cut into 1/2 inch squares
• 1 small red jalapeno chile, sliced
• 56.69 g diced bamboo shoots
• 118.29 ml unsalted dry roasted peanuts

• Sauce

• 2.46 ml sechuan peppercorn
• 29.58 ml rice vinegar
• 29.58 ml hoisin sauce
• 14.79 ml dark soy sauce
• 2.46 ml dried red pepper flakes

directions

1. In a bowl, combine the shrimp, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Place the peppercorns in a small frying pan over medium heat. Cook shaking the pan frequently, until the peppercorns darken slightly and smell toasted, 3 to 4 minutes. Process in a spice grinder or blender until coarsely ground.
3. In a bowl, combine the peppercorns, vinegar, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and pepper flakes.
4. Place a wok or wide frying pan over high heat until hot. Add the oil, swirling to coat the sides. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until they turn pink, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the onion, jalapeno, and bamboo shoots; stir fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce and cook until heated through. Add the peanuts and toss to coat.

Reviews

[SarahRIzz]

This is awful. Unless you like to eat hoisin out of the jar, this is awful. It needs more veggies too, like carrots and peas. But still, the flavor is overcome by hoisin and white pepper.

 

[Midwest Maven]

We loved this dish, perfect balance of flavors. I made it for an Asian themed b-day party and it went over very well! Thanks! Made for ZWT6 Queens of Quisine!

 

[PalatablePastime]

This is a really good version of kung pao! I like that it seems very saucy as compared to what I might get from Chinese take-out. But the balance of spicing in this is really nice! I think I would like to have some diced water chestnuts and diced celery added to this as well, and next time I might cut the shrimp into a dice as the kung pao I am used to has most of the things in it the same size. For the szechuan peppercorn I used something I bought at the Asian grocer called "Chinese pepper" which is the szechuan peppercorn ground up and sifted so there is no grit, etc. I was really happy to have come across it, and hope everyone else hunts this down and gives it a try. Thanks for sharing the recipe- we always love Asian food around this home. ~Sue

 

[Dr. Jenny]

This was delicious with great flavor! If serving over rice, the sauce should be at least tripled. DH might make it a little more spicy, but my mouth was left burning a little and I thought it was perfect. We followed all ingredients and directions as posted. Thanks for this keeper. Made for Asian Forum's soybean tag April 2008.

 

[Cilantro in Canada]

This recipe gets five stars for ease of preparation and taste. I used pre- cooked shrimp, but still coated them in cornstarch. I stir fried the veggies and removed them from the pan and then added the shrimp. Once heated I added the veggies and sauce. I did reduce the salt to 1/8 tsp and the pepper flakes to 1/8 tsp as well. This was really good at supper, but tasted even better when reheated. Thanks for the recipe.