Wok-Tossed, Twice-Cooked, Crispy Salt and Pepper Prawns

This dish is as good with soft shell crabs as it is with shrimp. For the crab version, skip the salt rub and simply cut the crabs in half before dipping in the egg white.

The sauce recipe came from my pal Vikram, who uses it all the time on all manners of fried seafood in his house in Bangalore. Whether you make it with shrimp or soft shells, you’ll love this recipe.

Ingredients

2 pounds shrimp

3 tablespoons kosher salt

1cup cornstarch

4 cups peanut oil

12 scallions

1tablespoon sea salt

1tablespoon black pepper

2 tablespoons sugar

5 dried red chilies

For Dipping Sauce

½ cup thinly shaved shallots

1cup thinly sliced red and green hot chilies (I like to use two red jalapenos, four serranos, and a piece of habanero to round out the heat. You can also use small red and green Thai chilies.)

½ cup soy sauce

1/3 cup chicken stock

3 tablespoons (metric) Chinese rice wine or sake

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons minced ginger

3 cloves thinly sliced garlic

Instructions

Peel and butterfly shrimp, leaving tail attached. Toss with salt and let sit for 15 minutes. Press in dry towel to remove moisture.

Heat peanut oil to 375 degrees over high heat in wok. Dip shrimp in egg whites, then dredge in cornstarch. Fry to crisp in two batches. Tip off oil leaving two tablespoons behind and increase heat. When it smokes, add scallions, chilies and shrimp. Toss to coat, adding salt, pepper and sugar as you rotate food across wok surface.

For the sauce, merely combine all the ingredients.

Toss and serve with sauce.

Yield: 4

Prep time: 30 minutes