Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What would Calvin Trillin Think

Calvin Trillin first tempted me with the salt and pepper shrimp in Alice Let's Eat. His description of the dish in Hong Kong and Flushing was so clear you could almost smell the fry oil. The most recent issue of Gourmet had a recipe that reminded me of them again. I had forgotten about it and then found myself with a pound of mutant prawns from Malaysia (a pound was a mere 6 shrimp have you!).

Now it wasn't until I had these salted, breaded, and ready to go that I realized that salt and pepper shrimp are supposed to be eaten shell and all. The shell on these prawns was thick and tough, and would in now way crisp up to an edible state. It was too late. But I did have the shell split and a large portion of exposed flesh was covered in batter. I went for it and I'm glad I did. Sure you had to peel the shell off before eating, but the little bits of batter were incredibly tasty. These prawns were so big, I think I'd call this dish salt and pepper lobster tails rather than shrimp. Heavenly. The deep fried cilantro and jalapeƱos didn't hurt either.

Salt and Pepper Shrimp
from Gourmet October 2008

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, in shell, shell split and deveined ,legs removed
3 quarts oil (canola or smart balance with omega-3!)
3 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon freshly ground coarse black pepper
8 sliced jalapeƱos
2 big bunches of cilantro sprigs
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt to taste

Heat oil to 400°F in a heavy pot. Toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon salt and let stand 5 minutes. Rinse with cold water, drain, and pat dry. Pulse egg whites in a food processor or blender until watery, then put in a bowl. Stir together cornstarch, 3 tablespoons pepper, and 2 tablespoons salt in another bowl.

Toss half of shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon each of kosher salt and pepper in a third bowl, dip in egg white, shake of excess, then lightly dredge in cornstarch mixture, shaking off excess. Make sure the coating is light. Fry until crisp and cooked through, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes (dependent on size). Transfer to paper towels to drain. Season, coat, and fry remaining shrimp. Reduce oil temperature to 375°F or therabouts and fry half of chiles with half of cilantro until cilantro just starts to turn dark green and chiles are wilted, only a couple seconds. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining chiles and cilantro. Serve shrimp topped with fried chiles and cilantro and sprinkled with sea salt. Serve immediately, shell and all.

1 comment:

  1. I love salt and pepper shrimp but you're right, those shells on the mutant prawns would not have been easy to eat.

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