Hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to classic Americanized Chinese cuisine with a look at the Firecracker Tempura Shrimp, from PF Chang's. For those new to the channel, in this series, we have been deconstructing classic dishes from Americanized Chinese cuisine (including a growing list of dishes from the PF Chang's menu now), then seeing what they might look like when reconstructed through the lens of more traditional wok cooking. For those not familiar, the P.F. Chang's firecracker tempura shrimp comes from the PF Chang's home menu, and is readily found in the frozen foods isle of most big box grocery stores. This of course is very beneficial to us, because it means it also has, you guessed it, a readily available ingredients list as well, which will be particularly useful in our efforts to reconstruct the dish's Siracha red chili sauce. To go along with this, I thought it might be fun to assemble our own interpretation of a firecracker shrimp using a sichuan peppercorn dry seasoning inspired by a Taiwanese popcorn chicken to create a legitimately spicy and...firecracker-y shrimp. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
1 dozen shrimp, deveined and peeled
4 cloves garlic
1 inch (about 1 tbsp) fine minced ginger
3 green onions
64oz fryer oil
peanut oil
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 tbsp Siracha
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp honey
INGREDIENTS (tempura batter)
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup seltzter water
2 egg whites
PREP
CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
SEPARATE the whites and greens of the green onions, then slice thinly, set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
COMBINE all tempura batter ingredients, then combine with shrimp
ON THE STOVE
HEAT the fryer to 350F, fry the shrimp for 1 minute, then remove and let cool for 5 minutes
FRY the shrimp for an additional 2-3 minutes until golden brown, then set aside
HEAT the wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the garlic, ginger, and the whites of the green onions and saute until fragrant for 15 seconds
ADD the sauce mixture plus 1/4 cup water and reduce for 4-5 minutes until thickened
ADD the shrimp and toss to combine
FINISH with greens of green onions