Stir-Fried Shrimp with Green Peas

My version of a ubiquitous Chinese menu fav. I've been tweaking this recipe since back in my college days when my cooking skills were often suspect. Nonetheless, here it is in its current iteration.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. shelled, deveined medium shrimp 

MARINADE:
2 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. rice wine
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. cornstarch

4 slices of ginger, minced
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
4 scallions, chopped

Sauce:
2 cups water

2 1/2 tbsp. chicken powder (Totole brand is my fav)

1 tbsp. rice wine
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 tbsp. cornstarch 

This is my favorite brand of Chinese chicken stock. Their granulated mushroom bouillon can be used interchangeably with their granulated chicken bouillon. Because it's from China, my mom thinks it's inherently tainted or secretly laced with untoward chemicals. Do I think so and do I care? Not so much. Just tastes good.

1 lb. whole button mushrooms, quartered or 1 can of straw mushrooms (optional)
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Cooked white rice

Directions:
1. First prep the shrimp using this technique to make them "bouncy" and crispy in texture: http://thegrubfiles.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-make-your-shrimp-bouncy-by-bee.html

2. Place shrimp in a large glass bowl. Add marinade ingredients and 1 tsp. of minced garlic, 1 tsp. of minced ginger, 2 tsp. of minced scallion. Toss well, cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

3. Quarter the button mushrooms, chop the cilantro, and set aside. 

4. In a large saute pan or wok, heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil over high heat until just about smoking. Add remaining minced garlic, ginger and scallion, and cook quickly, about 10 seconds, to release their flavor. Add quartered button mushrooms to pan and saute about 1-2 minutes.

5. In the meantime, add shrimp to pan with mushrooms and continue cooking over high heat until shrimp is lightly browned but barely cooked through (3-5 minutes). Remove shrimp mixture to a plate and set aside. 

6. Place saute pan back on heat and add the sauce ingredients; bring to a boil. Add green peas and cook about 10 seconds.

7. Add shrimp to sauce, bring back to a boil, and stir until thickened. Turn off heat, garnish with cilantro, and serve over hot white rice.

Scallions, garlic, ginger root and cornstarch slurry (2 tbsp. cornstarch with 3 tbsp. water).

Cut ginger into 4 slices.

Next, julienne those ginger slices .

And finally, for the mince, cut those matchstick pieces of ginger into teensy dice.

Totally minced ginger.

Add 1 tsp. of minced garlic, 1 tsp. of minced ginger, 2 tsp. of minced scallion and marinade ingredients to the shrimp. Toss well, cover and refrigerate. Reserve the rest of the garlic, ginger and scallion for later.

Quartered mushrooms & chopped cilantro.

Cilantro, scallions, mushrooms, green peas, ginger and garlic.

Saute the remaining scallions, ginger and garlic (the holy trinity in Chinese cooking).

Add shrooms to the mix.

Add in the shrimp.

When shrimp just barely turns pink (do not cook through), remove to a bowl and set aside.

Sugar, sesame oil, white pepper, rice wine, cornstarch and chicken stock.

When it comes to rice wine in  Chinese recipes, you can use either the clear rice wine or the amber-hued "Shaohsing" wine. Clear is the preference in this recipe, but just use whatever is available. 

Pour sauce ingredients in the same pan that the shrimp was cooking in and bring to a boil.

Add in the peas.

Add the cooked shrimp and stir in the cilantro.