SPICY SHRIMP with SNOW PEAS and CURRIED RICE

Transcription

1 SPICY SHRIMP with SNOW PEAS and CURRIED RICE Serves 4 to 6. By Dennis W. Viau; modified from a restaurant recipe. This is another of my simple recipes that can be made quickly. The shrimp and sugar snap peas will cook in about the same time as the rice, getting this meal onto the table in minutes, not hours. Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed through a garlic press 1 cup (235g) rice 2 teaspoons curry powder 1 large shallot (about 40g), thinly sliced 5 ounces (142g) snow peas (AKA China peas) or sugar snap peas 1 pound (454g) shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes Salt and pepper to taste 8 to 10 fresh basil leaves Extra virgin olive oil for garnish Directions: Heat a tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and rice. Sauté about 2 minutes. Then add 2 cups of water and the curry powder. Bring to a boil, stir with a fork, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, 16 to 18 minutes until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed. While the rice is cooking, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the sliced shallot until lightly caramelized, 5 to 6 minutes, reducing the heat as the shallot begins to brown. Add the sugar snap peas to the skillet and sauté 3 to 4 minutes until crisp tender. Then transfer the contents of the skillet to a bowl and set aside. Add a tablespoon of oil to the skillet and sauté the shrimp over medium heat until they turn pink and are barely cooked through. Add the lemon juice and red pepper flakes to the shrimp, stir briefly, and then transfer the shrimp to the bowl of sugar snap peas, leaving the liquid in the skillet. Cook the liquid over medium heat to reduced until nearly all the liquid has evaporated. (You could add dry white wine rather than lemon juice.) Return the shrimp and sugar snap peas mixture to the skillet. Stir well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fluff the cooked rice with a fork and adjust for salt. Roll the basil leaves into a tight little cylinder and slice very thinly for a chiffonade, or chop fairly fine. Set aside for garnish. To plate, spoon some rice onto plates. Top with shrimp and sugar snap peas. Garnish with some basil and a little extra virgin olive oil. The Step By Step guide begins on the following page

2 1 STEP-BY-STEP 2 Snow peas, also known as China peas, are flatter than sugar snap peas. They are often confused (I confused them in the video). You could use either in this recipe. If neither are available in your local store, you could substitute with frozen garden peas that have been thawed. The frozen shrimp I bought were deveined and peeled, but the tail shells were still present. This is a dish I would eat with a fork, not my fingers; so I removed all the tail shells. I am using a short grain rice, because that is what I had in the cupboard (it was given to me), but you can substitute with long grain rice. 2 Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the minced garlic.

3 3 3 Add the rice, stir, and sauté for 2 minutes. 4 Carefully (it will steam up) add 2 cups of water and the curry powder. Stir and bring to a boil. Then stir the rice with a fork, cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 16 to 18 minutes until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed.

4 5 4 While the rice is cooking, slice the shallot thinly. 6 Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the shallots. Sauté, reducing the heat as they begin to brown, until cooked to a light golden color. They will cook further in the next step.

5 7 5 Add the snow peas and cook until crisp tender, 3 to 4 minutes. 8 Here are the snow peas after several minutes. Notice how the shallot continued to cook until it is now caramelized. This is how I prefer shallots.

6 9 6 Transfer the shallot and peas to a bowl and set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and sauté the shrimp until they turn pink and are barely cooked through. Do not overcook the shrimp, as they will become tough and rubbery. 10 Add the lemon juice and red pepper flakes to the pan and stir well to distribute the pepper evenly. Then transfer the shrimp to the bowl containing the peas, leaving the liquid in the pan.

7 11 7 Cook the liquid over medium heat to reduce it until almost all the liquid has evaporated. As a variation, you could add dry white wine or dry sherry in place of the lemon juice and then reduce. 12 Return the shrimp, peas, and shallot to the pan and heat gently to bring up to serving temperature. At about this stage the rice should be done, or nearly done.

8 13 8 For garnish, you can roll some fresh basil leaves into a tight roll and then slice them very finely for a chiffonade. 14 When the rice is cooked, fluff with a fork, and cover the pan until needed. Butter or a little extra virgin olive oil can be added to the pan, if you desire. You can also adjust the rice for salt.

9 15 9 To plate: Spoon a portion of rice onto plates and top with the shrimp and peas mixture. Garnish with a little fresh basil chiffonade. I also prefer to garnish this type of dish with a little extra virgin olive oil. You can also place lemon wedges on the side of each plate. Conclusion This meal is relatively easy to prepare. If you are reasonably proficient in the kitchen you can prepare the shallot, peas, and shrimp in about the same time as it takes to cook the rice. This is a useful recipe to have on a day when you don t wish to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, or when you need to quickly prepare a dinner after arriving home from work.