by Grace Young
Chinese Trinidadian Stir-Fried Shrimp with Rum
Interesting ingredients to say the least. The sauce is made up from ketchup, rum, and soy sauce. As I was whisking this mixture together I was thinking this would make a good barbecue sauce for chicken or fish. That is until I tasted it. Strange flavor. It smelled really good as it was sizzling away in the pan and while the finished stir-fry was sitting on the counter.
The end result did not excite me like the Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken we made a couple of weeks ago. This of course could be that I had to substitute fresh minced ginger for dry ground ginger. Imagine the horror when I went to the freezer to find I had none! I always have ginger in the freezer. I so do not remember using it all. And in the end I forgot to add the cilantro. I had put the finely chopped cilantro in a measuring spoon instead of a small finger bowl like I normally do (they were all in the freezer holding egg whites) and did not see it sitting aside as things quickly progressed as does when stir-frying.
When it comes to cooking shrimp there are some who peel the shells off and some who leave them on. I chose to leave them on as instructed in the recipe. Leaving the shells on help keep the shrimp moist and juicy. Some say it imparts more flavor to the shrimp. I have cooked shrimp both ways and really have not noticed much of a difference.
Personally I would have preferred to have the shrimp shelled for this recipe. It was a bit on the messy side peeling the shrimp at the table when they were covered in sauce and the need to clean your hands each time you wanted to pick up your fork (or chopsticks) to eat the rest of the meal.
They say you can't win them all and that's OK. I'm looking forward to our next recipe of Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Shiitake Mushrooms. Look for the post in two weeks.
Success meter (1-3): 2
There were very few veins that
needed removing.
I'm not a fan of green bell pepper so I substituted red
bell pepper and added zucchini for a splash of color.
You can find this recipe at Robin's blog The Big Red Kitchen, our host for the week and check out the LYL post over at Wok Wednesdays for results from the rest of the group.
Cathleen
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of green bell peppers either! Trauma from childhood omlets with very undercooked green bells- ick! Looks like your tomatoes held up better than mine. I think I got mine too thin. Funny thing- the first time I made this I used un-cut cherry tomatoes- like little HOT bombs exploding in my mouth! Hahaha! Sticking with sliced tomatoes for stir-frying, I am a slooooow learner.
While I liked this dish, I can understand how you would like the Chinese Burmese dish from last time better. It did have a lot more flavor. Hopefully we will get to make something really flavorful soon. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI love your photographs! Looks like you got exceptionally beautiful shrimp. I'm sorry you didn't have fresh ginger. I can't imagine what the dish would be like with ground ginger.
ReplyDeleteThank you Grace. I'm sure the end result would have been so much better with fresh ginger and if I remembered to add the cilantro. Ground ginger is just plain nasty in my book! Not sure why I even had it in my spice drawer.
DeleteGreat pics!
ReplyDelete