I tried this technique from Bee Yinn Low's Easy Chinese Recipes and it absolutely worked! Here's an excerpt from her cookbook: "Have you ever had Chinese shrimp dishes or dim sum where the shrimp are so crisp and crunchy that they literally "bounce" in your mouth?...After extensive research and many conversations with Chinese chefs and restauranteurs, I eventually came up with the technique that delivers a satisfactory result for home cooks. Again, the secret ingredient is baking soda, which is used to treat the shrimp before they are coated with an egg white and tapioca starch or cornstarch mixture..."
Although her recipe calls for refrigerating the shrimp at least 4-6 hours or preferably overnight after it's been coated with the egg white and cornstarch, I've found that you can skip the egg white-cornstarch step and just soak the shrimp in the baking soda iced water mix for a minimum of 30 minutes up to a couple hours. The shrimp will still have that "bouncy" quality - a real time saver when you want to do a stir-fry on the fly without having to wait for hours or until the next day to do the dish. Thank you Bee Yinn Low!!!!
Here's the link to her original recipe/post: https://rasamalaysia.com/how-to-make-shrimps-crunchy/
Ingredients (double the portion of Bee Yinn Low's recipe, which is for 1 lb. shrimp):
2 lbs. medium or large shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tbsp. baking soda
Cold water
4 cups ice
1. Place the shrimp in a bowl and add enough ice water to cover (or you can use tap water with ice cubes). Add the baking soda. Lightly massage the baking soda water into the shrimp with your hands until well combined.
2. Let sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours (some people say it's ok to do this overnight).
3. Drain the shrimp in a colander and rinse well with cold running water. Blot dry with paper towels. Marinate the shrimp with whatever your recipe calls for.
Although her recipe calls for refrigerating the shrimp at least 4-6 hours or preferably overnight after it's been coated with the egg white and cornstarch, I've found that you can skip the egg white-cornstarch step and just soak the shrimp in the baking soda iced water mix for a minimum of 30 minutes up to a couple hours. The shrimp will still have that "bouncy" quality - a real time saver when you want to do a stir-fry on the fly without having to wait for hours or until the next day to do the dish. Thank you Bee Yinn Low!!!!
Here's the link to her original recipe/post: https://rasamalaysia.com/how-to-make-shrimps-crunchy/
Ingredients (double the portion of Bee Yinn Low's recipe, which is for 1 lb. shrimp):
2 lbs. medium or large shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tbsp. baking soda
Cold water
4 cups ice
1. Place the shrimp in a bowl and add enough ice water to cover (or you can use tap water with ice cubes). Add the baking soda. Lightly massage the baking soda water into the shrimp with your hands until well combined.
2. Let sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours (some people say it's ok to do this overnight).
3. Drain the shrimp in a colander and rinse well with cold running water. Blot dry with paper towels. Marinate the shrimp with whatever your recipe calls for.
Cover the shrimp with cold or tap water.
Add ice cubes. Mix in baking soda and massage the shrimp briefly to incorporate.
Let sit for 30 minutes up to a couple hours.
Let sit for 30 minutes up to a couple hours.
Rinse the shrimp well in a colander under cold running water.
Blot the shrimp dry with paper towels.
Mix the shrimp with whatever marinade ingredients are called for in your recipe and cook accordingly.
Is this how salt and pepper shrimp starts out? Yes?
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ReplyDeletehi , this recipe is for fried or steam ? Im trying to fried the shrimp , its doesnt work.
ReplyDeleteHi, you can use this for stir-frying or steaming. It's supposed to make the shrimp more tender-crisp. I've used this method many times and it works well. What kind of recipe are you making?
Deletedo you need to wash off the egg white and starch if roasting the shrimp?
ReplyDeleteHi Janet, I've never used this recipe to roast shrimp before (just for stir-frying or steaming in Chinese recipes), so I'm not sure what to recommend. If you do try to use this recipe for roasting and leave the coating on, let me know how it turns out :)
DeleteHi, do you need to wash off the egg white and starch if frying the shrimps ?
ReplyDeleteHi! No need to wash off egg white and cornstarch if frying the shrimp. They will help give the shrimp a crispy coating.
DeleteIf i jus wanna the tender and bouncy feel but not the coating, so u wash off the corn starch and egg white coating?
ReplyDeleteYes, you can just wash off the coating - that will work fine.
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