Whenever I’m looking to make a fast and easy dinner I turn to seafood. It cooks up in a flash and takes on flavours well. Shrimp is one of my go-to seafoods, if only because I usually have frozen shrimp in the fridge. It’s a habit that probably comes from my mom – she often stocks up on big boxes of frozen shrimp when they’re on sale. Now, that I have my own freezer, I find myself doing the same. Of course, sometimes my mom stocks up on shrimp for me too – thanks mom!
These spicy salt and pepper shrimp are perfect for demonstrating that you don’t need a lot of ingredients to get a lot of flavour. Like most Chinese stir-fry, you’ve got your usual suspects: garlic, salt and two kinds of pepper. If you don’t have white pepper, don’t worry about it, but a lot of Chinese food uses white pepper as a flavouring and it’s fairly distinctive tasting: sharper, yet more delicate at the same time. I added in some diced jalapeños for a bit of spice and finished it off with some sliced green onions. These guys, a big bowl of fluffy white rice, some simple greens, and I’m a happy camper!
Crispy Salt and Pepper Shrimp Recipe
serves 2
- 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, diced, seeds removed if desired
- 1-2 stalks green onion, sliced
- grain of choice, to serve
Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. In bowl, toss the shrimp, cornstarch, white & black pepper and salt together. Heat up a bit of oil in a heavy bottomed skilled over medium heat. Add the garlic, 1/2 of the jalapeños and 1/2 of the green onions. Cook, stirring, until crisp and fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the coated shrimp and cook, until pink and firm, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and toss with the remaining jalapeños and green onions. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary and enjoy hot with your grain of choice. I usually serve this with lots of fluffy white rice and a simple stir-fried vegetable dish.
These look exceptionally good! Discovered your blog recently, and I’m hooked!
Just made this and it was absolutely delicious!
I am eating this recipe for dinner right now, and it’s incredibly good! Have you ever tried it with other shellfish, like scallops or lobster?
I haven’t, but if you try it out, please let me know how it goes!
this looks so delicious
This is the only way my mom made shrimp when I was growing up. It’s surprising how much flavor you get with just scallions.
This looks delicious and I’m sending this recipe straight to my mama. She would love it.
Great tasting recipe. However, I thought shrimp was suppose to be cooked at high heat.
I make this about 2-3 times a month! So simple but tastes amazing!
LOVED IT!!!!! I just ate it by itself because I just couldn’t control myself to heat up some rice or make rice noodles. I love pepper, so I used four thai chilli peppers with the seeds…lol like I said I love pepper. Great recipe and blog in general :)