Thursday, September 25, 2008

Tonight's Dinner - Shrimp Stir Fry.

Tonight's dinner is Szechuan shrimp with cashews.
Here are my ingredients to add with the shrimp: 1/2 cup cashews 1/3 cup orange juice 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup Ponzu sauce 1 TB garlic, minced 1 small onion, sliced 1 small jar roasted red peppers, sliced 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 3 TB Sriracha sauce scallions, sliced hot red pepper, minced 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
While I was getting all the ingredients for the shrimp stir fry ready, Mr. Hawthorne was fixing his rice.
Here, he's chopped onions, celery, and has some ginger ready.
He's simmering Lundberg Brown Basmati rice with 2 bay leaves.
The onions, celery, and ginger go into melted butter to saute.
The rice is absorbing the water nicely.
Raisins get added to the celery/onion mixture.
Then the rice gets added.
A bit of soy sauce goes in.
And a little cumin. Rice is done. Set aside and cover. Now, Rosie is up.
I heated up a bit of extra light olive oil and some sesame oil, then tossed in the shrimp for a quick stir fry. (You might want to under-fry the shrimp since they're going to be added back in later. After a quick toss in the oil, remove and set aside.
The cashews go in next for about a minute.
Add orange juice.
Soy sauce.
Ponzu sauce (citrus seasoned soy sauce).
Onions.
Garlic.
Roasted red peppers.
Add rice wine vinegar and reduce for 5 minutes.
Add in shrimp.
Then the Sriracha sauce.
Hot red pepper.
The green onions.
And finally add in the toasted sesame seeds and turn off heat.
Stir a bit to combine everything.
And serve with rice. OK. This is one of the recipes from my cooking classes. I would reduce the soy and Ponzu sauce by more than half because this was really salty. That said, the sweetness (from the raisins) of the rice complemented the saltiness of the shrimp dish.
Despite the saltiness, and I am not a fan of overly-salted foods, I still liked this and will make it again. I'll just hold WAY back on the soy and Ponzu. I liked the heat of the dish. And nuts are always a plus. If I'd thought about it, I'd have added some lemon zest into the rice just for good measure. (But, Mr. H. hates zest.) Good meal, but I'll be drinking a gallon or so of water tonight.

2 comments:

Marilyn said...

Looks good. Why is soy sauce so salty anyway?

Rosie Hawthorne said...

From recipezaar:
Soy sauce is a staple condiment and ingredient throughout all of Asia. Produced for thousands of years, soy sauce is a salty, brown liquid made from fermented soy beans mixed with some type of roasted grain (wheat, barley, or rice are common), injected with a special yeast mold, and liberally flavored with salt. After being left to age for several months, the mixture is strained and bottled. The sauce's consistency can range from very thin to very thick. Flavors, too, vary by type and have very subtle differences. Light soy sauce from Japan has a thinner consistency and a saltier flavor than the darker varieties. It is preferred when a darker sauce will ruin the appearance of a dish, or when a lighter flavor is sought, especially when serving seafood. Dark soy sauce is used throughout Asia and is a bit richer and thicker than the lighter varieties. It tends to have a chocolate brown color, and a pungent, rather than overly salty, flavor.