Salt and Pepper Shrimp 椒盐虾

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 15 Mins

Cook Time: 10 Mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb of shrimp, shelled and deveined

¼ tsp of salt

¼ tsp of white pepper

Oil, for deep-frying

Frying Batter:

½ cup of all-purpose flour

¼ cup of cornstarch

½ tsp of baking powder

1 egg white

½ cup of water

1 tbsp of cooking oil

A pinch of salt

Stir-fry:

2 tbsp of oil

1 scallion, rough chopped

1 green jalapeño, sliced

½ tsp salt

½ tsp white pepper

Directions:

1. Shell and devein shrimp and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.

2. Marinate prepared shrimp with the salt and white pepper for about 15 minutes.

3. Combine all the ingredients for the frying batter in a medium sized mixing bowl. 4. Add the shrimp into the frying batter, stir to coat evenly.

5. Heat enough oil in a wok or deep frying pan to cover the shrimp. Gently drop the battered shrimp into the oil to deep fry. Make sure to the move the shrimp around to prevent them from clumping together. Deep fry until golden brown.

6. Dish out the deep fried shrimp and drain excess oil on a paper towel lined wire rack or dish.

7. Remove all but 2 tbsp of oil from the wok. Add the chopped green onion and jalapeño. Stir fry until fragrant. Add the fried shrimp back into the wok and stir a few times to distribute the aromatics.

8. Add the salt and white pepper, stir to combine evenly. Enjoy!

Notes:

In Chinese cuisine, this is usually served with the shrimp head and shell on, but I decided to make things a little bit easier by shelling ahead of time.

If you prefer your salt and pepper shrimp to be less spicy, use only half a jalapeño.

This dish is supposed to be salty with a little bit of a kick from the jalapeño. If you don't like jalapeños, you can use a red chili pepper.