The Five Spice Shrimps recipe is doubly meaningful to me. One, it’s a really incredible dish. My friend Ruth in Manhattan once bought five pounds of shrimp and asked me to make them all into this dish for her, her husband, Ginger, and me. (I did it, but I vastly prefer several dishes for an Asian banquet. Plus I cleaned all those shrimps!) Two, and more important, I learned this one wonderful fall semester in Florence Lin’s class at the China Institute, off Central Park on Manhattan’s East Side. She and I got along quite well; for one thing, I wouldn’t participate in racist impersonations of her accent which, you may not believe, some people did. For another, I respect her brilliance as a teacher. The day we learned this recipe, we all learned it. Ms. Lin (whose uncle was the philosopher Lin Yutang) had brought in a guy who ran a chop suey joint in Jersey. But as the dish shows, don’t look down on cooks who run non-gourmet places. Florence herself kept calling out to a friend in the class, “Are you taking this down?” (If I remember right, this was the same day Julia Childs sat in on the class—perhaps she’d heard of this dish.) NOTE: Many recipes may call for an ingredient or two for which you may substitute with pleasant results—sometimes even improving on the original. Don’t mess with this one: It’s perfection itself. And don’t serve it on stir fried vegetables. You’ll only dilute a great taste. - Jerry Weinberg
Ingredients
- ¼-½ cups oil
- 1½ pounds shrimps (large (18 or fewer to the pound), cleaned and dried)
- ½ Tablespoon ginger (long-shredded (1/2"))
- 1-2 scallions (cleaned and chopped, 1/4")
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- ¼ cup green pepper (minced)
- ¼ cup hot red pepper (minced)
- 2 Tablespoons celery (finely chopped white part (no leaves))
- 2 Tablespoons carrot (finely chopped)
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar (or less)
- ¾ teaspoon five spice powder (shake it beforehand)
- 1 dash white pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil very hot. Carefully add shrimps. Stir fry 1 1/2" to 2 minutes,or slightly less. Using a Chinese strainer, strain into colander.
- Scoop out all but 2 Tbsp oil. Add ginger, scallions, garlic, etc., mix, and stir fry for 30 seconds. Return shrimps, stir, add ingredientsin small bowl, stir fry till liquid is gone.
- Serve on a dark platter if possible, with rice or jasmine rice.
Notes
Original, as written:
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs large shrimps (18 or fewer to the pound), cleaned and dried Combine in a bowl:
1/2 Tbsp long-shredded ginger (1/2 long)
1-2 scallions, cleaned and chopped, 1/4″
2 cloves finely minced garlic
1/4″ cup minced green pepper
1/4″ cup (or less) minced hot red pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped white part of celery (no leaves)
2 Tbsp finely chopped carrot Combine in small bowl:
1 1/2″ tsp salt
less than 1/2″ tsp sugar
shake your container of five spice powder and measure out 3/4″ tsp
dash white pepper 1) Heat oil very hot. Carefully add shrimps. Stir fry 1 1/2″ to 2 minutes, or slightly less. Using a Chinese strainer, strain into colander. 2) Scoop out all but 2 Tbsp oil. Add ginger, scallions, garlic, etc.,
mix, and stir fry for 30 seconds. Return shrimps, stir, add ingredients
in small bowl, stir fry till liquid is gone. Serve on a dark platter if possible, with rice or jasmine rice.
1 1/2 lbs large shrimps (18 or fewer to the pound), cleaned and dried Combine in a bowl:
1/2 Tbsp long-shredded ginger (1/2 long)
1-2 scallions, cleaned and chopped, 1/4″
2 cloves finely minced garlic
1/4″ cup minced green pepper
1/4″ cup (or less) minced hot red pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped white part of celery (no leaves)
2 Tbsp finely chopped carrot Combine in small bowl:
1 1/2″ tsp salt
less than 1/2″ tsp sugar
shake your container of five spice powder and measure out 3/4″ tsp
dash white pepper 1) Heat oil very hot. Carefully add shrimps. Stir fry 1 1/2″ to 2 minutes, or slightly less. Using a Chinese strainer, strain into colander. 2) Scoop out all but 2 Tbsp oil. Add ginger, scallions, garlic, etc.,
mix, and stir fry for 30 seconds. Return shrimps, stir, add ingredients
in small bowl, stir fry till liquid is gone. Serve on a dark platter if possible, with rice or jasmine rice.