StirFry - Shrimp 'Thai-Style 'Chiles & Shallots

By

Serve this stir-fry with steamed rice, preferably jasmine rice

This dish offers an exotic change of pace from Chinese stir-fries. But who has shrimp paste, tamarind pulp, galangal, and palm sugar, plus three hours to make dinner?

The Problem: We found a recipe for ultimate Thai chile beef in one of our favorite cookbooks, but it required exotic ingredients and three hours of preparation—definitely not a recipe suitable for making midweek supper in an average American home kitchen. (Note: we subsequently also tackled the same dish with shrimp, solving the same problems).

The Goal: We wanted to create a sophisticated Thai chile beef recipe built around the traditional Thai flavors--spicy, sweet, sour, and salty--using readily available ingredients and requiring minimal cooking time.

The Solution: A cheap and readily available cut—blade steak—won our taste test for its tenderness and very beefy flavor. We added the beef to our transformed stir-fry marinade—made with fish sauce for its briny flavor, white pepper for its spicy and almost gamy flavor, citrusy coriander, and a little light brown sugar for both sweetness and help in developing caramelization. With these complex elements, the beef needed to marinate for only 15 minutes to develop full flavor. We also wanted some heat but found it difficult to achieve just the right amount as fresh jalapeños have wildly unpredictable heat levels. To solve the problem, we introduced a second, easily controlled heat source—Asian chili-garlic paste—that added toasty garlicky flavors along with heat. More fish sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, fresh mint and cilantro, a few crunchy chopped peanuts, and a bright squirt of lime juice finished the dish.

View complete recipe

  • 4

Ingredients

  • Shrimp and Marinade
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon Ground white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 1/2 pounds extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 count), peeled and deveined
  • Stir-Fry
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlic paste
  • 3 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil , plus 1 more teaspoon
  • 3 serrano chiles (or jalapeño), halved, seeds and ribs removed, chiles cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick half-moons
  • 3 medium shallots , trimmed of ends, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and layers separated
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves , large leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1/3 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts (roughly chopped)
  • lime wedges for serving

Preparation

Step 1

1. For the Shrimp and Marinade: Combine coriander, white pepper, brown sugar, and fish sauce in large bowl. Add shrimp, toss well to combine; marinate 15 minutes.

2. For the Stir-Fry: In small bowl, stir together fish sauce, vinegar, water, brown sugar, and chili-garlic paste until sugar dissolves; set aside. In small bowl, mix garlic with 1 teaspoon oil; set aside. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until smoking; add half of shrimp to skillet in even layer. Cook without stirring until spottily brown and edges turn pink, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, then stir and continue cooking until shrimp are browned around edges and turn pink, about 30 seconds. Transfer shrimp to medium bowl. Repeat with additional 2 teaspoons oil and remaining shrimp.

3. After transferring second batch of shrimp to bowl, reduce heat to medium; add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to now-empty skillet and swirl to coat. Add chiles and shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Push chile/shallot mixture to sides of skillet to clear center; add garlic to clearing and cook, mashing mixture with spoon, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir to combine garlic with chile/shallot mixture. Add fish sauce mixture to skillet; increase heat to high, and cook until slightly reduced and thickened, about 30 seconds. Return shrimp and any accumulated juices to skillet, toss well to combine and coat with sauce, stir in half of mint and cilantro; serve immediately, sprinkling individual servings with a portion of peanuts and remaining herbs, and passing lime wedges separately.

View complete recipe