Honey walnut shrimp
Recently, I had lunch at China Chili's with my co-workers, and was mystified by a shrimp dish that one of them ordered. It was a plate of whole shrimp in a white, creamy sauce, which I was informed was mayonnaise based, served on a bed of lettuce. Candied walnuts were sprinkled over the top. I'd never seen anything like it. It got rave reviews from those who had, though. I remembered I had some frozen shrimp in the freezer and decided to try to find a recipe. I didn't know the actual name of the dish, but found out it went by "candied walnut shrimp," "honey walnut shrimp," and the unappealing and almost stomach-churning "mayonnaise shrimp." I was a little wary, since recently fried shrimp stirred into a mayo sauce sounded a bit dangerous. I'm brave, though, and tackled the dish head-on. I had just about everything I needed in my kitchen, except for the sweetened condensed milk that many recipe versions called for. With the honey and mayo (or Smart Balance Omega Plus, in my case), I figured that the sauce would be sweet and creamy enough.
Open-pot frying: not for the weak of heart. The batter, made with egg whites and starch (flour, cornstarch, or rice flour, which I opted for), made for more of a tempura-type crust than a "Southern fried" crust, which I really liked.
I couldn't decide which picture I liked better: which shoe--the left foot? The right foot? The left foot? The right foot? The actual dish was somewhere between the first two, and brighter than the third--the shrimp had a nice, golden, pinkish tint, and the spinach was vibrant and green. My co-worker who ordered the dish said it was a bit odd with the lettuce. Some recipes called for shredded cabbage. I rarely have lettuce on hand, and I'm not fond of raw cabbage, but I almost always have spinach. It tasted really delicious over the spinach! Oh man! The dressing itself was tasty and easy--mayo, honey, and lemon juice, in decreasing increments, respectively. Recipes called to add a bit of sweetened condensed milk here, too, but I didn't. I made sure to go light on the mayo because I read reviews saying a lot of versions went too thick with it.
Edit: I talked to my co-worker who stronlgy advocates the dish, and she told me the shrimp at the restaurant isn't battered. Bonus! You can just stir-fry the shrimp and save yourself the cleanup, calories, and potential catastrophe of over-cooked shrimp! Cook time for this version would take about a third of the time!
Open-pot frying: not for the weak of heart. The batter, made with egg whites and starch (flour, cornstarch, or rice flour, which I opted for), made for more of a tempura-type crust than a "Southern fried" crust, which I really liked.
I couldn't decide which picture I liked better: which shoe--the left foot? The right foot? The left foot? The right foot? The actual dish was somewhere between the first two, and brighter than the third--the shrimp had a nice, golden, pinkish tint, and the spinach was vibrant and green. My co-worker who ordered the dish said it was a bit odd with the lettuce. Some recipes called for shredded cabbage. I rarely have lettuce on hand, and I'm not fond of raw cabbage, but I almost always have spinach. It tasted really delicious over the spinach! Oh man! The dressing itself was tasty and easy--mayo, honey, and lemon juice, in decreasing increments, respectively. Recipes called to add a bit of sweetened condensed milk here, too, but I didn't. I made sure to go light on the mayo because I read reviews saying a lot of versions went too thick with it.
Edit: I talked to my co-worker who stronlgy advocates the dish, and she told me the shrimp at the restaurant isn't battered. Bonus! You can just stir-fry the shrimp and save yourself the cleanup, calories, and potential catastrophe of over-cooked shrimp! Cook time for this version would take about a third of the time!
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