Oil-Blasted Shrimp Balls
Butterflied, marinated prawns are fried in hot oil, then quickly stir-fried with crispy fried garlic and a pre-mixed starch slurry. The finished dish has an elegant appearance, a tender and silky smooth texture, and a rich, pronounced garlic flavor.
Ingredients
Large shrimp (peeled, deveined, washed and dried, butterflied along the back)
500g
Cilantro
5g
Garlic (minced)
10g
Ginger (ground and juiced)
5g
MSG (monosodium glutamate)
2.5g
Fish sauce
10g
White pepper
0.5g
Sesame oil
5g
Wet cornstarch
20g
Superior stock
50g
Lard (approximately 100g actually used)
800g
Shaoxing wine (mentioned in steps but not listed in the ingredient table)
To taste
Pearl flower vegetable (deep-fried until crispy)
To taste
Instructions
1
Marinating the shrimp
Peel and devein the large shrimp, wash and pat dry, then butterfly them along the back with a knife and place in a bowl. Grind the ginger and squeeze out the juice, then combine with the fish sauce, Shaoxing wine, wet cornstarch, and the shrimp. Mix well and marinate for 2 minutes. Set aside.
2
Preparing ingredients and mixing the sauce
Mince the garlic. In 50g of lard over low heat, fry the garlic until golden brown, then transfer to a bowl. Combine the MSG, fish sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, superior stock, and wet cornstarch to make a sauce mixture and set aside.
3
Cooking the dish
Heat the wok over medium heat and add oil, heating to 60–70% hot. Add the shrimp balls and briefly blanch in the oil until just cooked, then drain in a strainer. Quickly return the garlic, shrimp balls, and sauce mixture to the wok and toss together until coated. Plate and garnish with the crispy pearl flower vegetables to finish.
