Shrimps with Green Onions and Ginger, Wok-Fried River Prawns

I left you pondering over the new year - what will be my next shrimp recipe and ...to guess what are lettuce stems. So, I unveil this easy and tasty shrimp recipe here - Wok-Fried Shrimps with Green Onions and Ginger (it is really no-glam affair!) and this will add to the repertoire of seafood recipes I already have.

The gravy is so so good with steamed rice!

A friend of mine taught me this and she said this was a simple home-based recipe (家常菜) shared among many Chinese families. In many parts of China, they name this 姜葱爆河虾 - Wok-Fried (River) Shrimps or Prawns with Green Onions and Ginger, to be exact. Well, I supposed River Prawns is just another variety of shrimps adding to the other Grass, Tiger, White, Spot varieties. She also told me River Shrimps are smaller prawns so the flavors get right into the "heart" (do they have one?) of the shrimps, fast and good; and smaller prawns cook faster so the prawns will remain very succulent after a short cooking duration (logic: when prawns are bigger, you tend to cook them longer, so the longer exposure to heat will render them a higher chance of being over-cooked?)


Wok-Fried Shrimps or Prawns with Green Onions and Ginger (姜葱爆河虾)
Ingredients: 1 lb shrimps, shells and heads-on, de-veined and cleaned; 1 bunch of green onions, rinsed thoroughly and cut into finger-lengths; 1 small knob of ginger, thinly sliced; about 1 cup Chinese cooking wine(note: enough to at least soak the shrimps); 1/2 tsp brown sugar (note: sugar is the secret ingredient to many Shanghainese food) ; 1/2 to 1 tbsp light soy sauce

Directions: [Refer to step-by-step collage above] Marinate(or rather...soak) shrimps in cooking wine, brown sugar, light soy sauce and half the quantity of ginger in a pot for about 15-20 minutes. Heat some oil in wok and when oil is hot, add in green onions and remaining ginger and fry briskly till fragrant. Then add in all the shrimps with the marinate and fry till shrimps turn pink (cooked). Serve immediately.So fast, too good!

Tag: shrimps, prawns