Salt & Pepper Shrimp

I'd like to wish happy birthday to The Help today.  Its a milestone birthday, and I hope he buys whatever he wants.  I was going to get him a Canon 7D, but both Adorama and B & H Photo are closed for most of the month.  Oh well, I guess he'll just have to settle for the Rottweiler puppy.

The high point of my week was being invited to add my blog to petitchef.com, a foodie website based in France.  I'm glad I have three years of high school French and a year of college French under my belt.  I might be able to understand any comments en francais. 

Unfortunately, my week was littered with low points too.  The Rents' new printer crashed, and replacing it entailed multiple visits to OfficeMax.  I also had a situation where I NEEDED to take po chai pills (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about).  There were major issues at work too.   Why won't some people just admit fault and work towards resolution.  Why do we pussy-foot and tell people its a "win-win" situation?  Games have winners.  This is not a game.  I guess when you deal with people who think like adolescents (or preschoolers), it is perceived as a game.  Anyway, I should've guessed how the week was gonna go when we began the week at an all-day draining at Imiloa Astronomy Center.  Double ugghhh.  The information shared in the morning was interesting, however the presenters sucked.  I don't even think they knew a lot about education.  I got the impression they didn't prepare adequately.  But a day at Imiloa beats a day at the office, so it wasn't all that bad.  At least the toilet paper at Imiloa is in a dispenser.

The best part about Imiloa is the on-site restaurant.  They offer an all-you-can-eat-stuff-your-face buffet, complete with salad bar, a myriad of entrees, and a wide dessert selection.  Most people pile their plates with salt & pepper shrimp, and I can't say I blame them.  I love salt & pepper shrimp.

While Imiloa's salt & pepper shrimp is good, homemade salt & pepper shrimp totally rocks.  While some people get grossed out when they see the shrimp head, I like head-on shrimp because I like to suck on the head.    This happened to be local (Kauai) shrimp which I found at KTA.  Not all markets have it.  For salt & pepper shrimp, the shrimp should be no larger than 26/30. 

Cornstarch-dusted shrimp are deep fried until cooked.

Seasonings are added to the fried shrimp.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Salt & Pepper Shrimp

     1 lb shrimp

     1/4 c cornstarch

     1 1/2 c oil

     2 stalks green onion, chopped

     1 clove garlic, minced

     1 chili pepper, minced

     1/2 tsp salt

     2 pinches 5-spice

     2 pinches sugar

     1 pinch white pepper

     1 tbsp rice wine

If using head-on shrimp, begin by tossing shrimp with cornstarch.  If using headless shrimp, prepare shrimp by slitting back to remove intestinal vein.  Slip shrimp out of shell but do not detach shell.  Toss shrimp with cornstarch and let stand 10 minutes.  Heat oil in a wok.  Fry shrimp until crisp (this will need to be done in batches).  When all shrimp are fried, drain oil from wok.  Return shrimp to work and add all ingredients except rice wine.  Toss.  Add rice wine.  Toss.  Remove from wok to serve.

Oh, and Easter, yeah, Easter.  I had lots of fun coloring eggs by myself.  I got to leave them in the dye for a long time, and I made all solid color eggs.  The Ds would've been so upset.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I can still recall the moment when bell peppers ceased being "the dreaded food".  I was at a birthday party for my nephew and some kind of wraps were served.  Although I was tempted, it would've been rude of me to open up the wrap and remove the bell pepper slivers.  My plan was to eat the wrap and swallow fast.  I was shocked to discover that I enjoyed the wraps, and my original plan to swallow quickly just did not happen.  From that moment, a door to many wonderful recipes using bell peppers was opened.

One of my favorite ways (D1 loves this too) to eat bell peppers is stuffed with shrimp paste.  Legend Seafood Restaurant in Honolulu's Chinatown offers this from one of their carts, but homemade is better (not as much "fillers" in the shrimp paste).  This makes a great pupu (appetizer) or a main dish.  Its very convenient because the filling can be made ahead of time.  Just be sure to let the filling sit out for 15 minutes before using, and stir it up well several times.  Another trick is to keep the inside of the bell peppers dry.  This will help the filling adhere.

The filling (or any leftover filling) can also be formed into small patties and pan-fried as well.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Stuffed Bell Peppers

     4 bell peppers in assorted colors

     1 lb shrimp, peeled, de-veined & coarsely chopped

     1/4 c coarsely chopped bamboo shoots

     2 tbsp chopped water chestnuts

     2 tbsp rice wine

     2 tsp sesame oil

     1 tsp salt

     2 tbsp cornstarch

     1 egg white

     oil for pan frying

Combine shrimp, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts in work bowl of a food processor until shrimp is chopped fine.  Transfer to a bowl and add rice wine, sesame oil, salt, cornstarch, and egg white.  At this point, mixture can be refrigerated and removed from refrigerator 15 minutes before assembly, stirring several times.  Quarter each bell pepper.  Remove seeds.  Cut each quarter into 2 or 3 pieces.  Press a layer of filling (1/4"-1/2" thick) onto inner surface of bell pepper.  Heat oil in skillet.  Pan fry each piece, shrimp-side down only.  Do not fry bell pepper side.  Remove from pan when filling is golden brown and cooked through.