hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to deconstructing foods from Chinese American cuisine with a shot at yet another dish from the Panda Express menu, which is their Honey Walnut Shrimp. For those unfamiliar in this series, we have been taking apart classically americanized dishes from chinese cuisine to identify their American qualities, and then reassembling them through the lens of more traditional Chinese wok cooking. This of course is always super fun for me to do with dishes that are obviously quite Americanized like honey walnut shrimp, because they are pretty much entirely an American creation, leaving a lot of fun room for interpretation and creativity.
For those unfamiliar, the Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp is a fairly classic interpretation of the dish, featuring a tempura battered shrimp and candied walnut that have been tossed in a sweet and creamy glaze of honey, mayonaise, and condensed milk. For our version today we’re gonna be sticking fairly true to the original with a candied walnut and a tempura batter done with glutinous rice flour for a slightly chewier and more dense quality to our shrimp (and also, inadvertently gluten free). But then we’ll also be opening things up a bit with some savory umami and heat, coming from the addition of some sweet chile sauce and chile crisp oil that you probably won’t see in a more classic honey walnut shrimp. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 cloves garlic
1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger
3 green onions
1lb shrimp
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
24oz fryer oil
peanut oil
INGREDIENTS (tempura batter)
4 egg whites
2/3 cup glutinous rice flour
2/3 cup soda water
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp condensed milk
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sweet chile sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lao gan ma chile crisp oil
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 the whites thinly, and the greens into planks, set aside
PEEL and devein the shrimp, set aside
COMBINE brown sugar with 1/2 cup water, set aside
COMBINE all tempura batter ingredients into a smooth batter, add the shrimp, toss to combine, and set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
ADD the brown sugar mixture to the wok and bring to a boil, then add the walnuts and let simmer for 5 minutes before removing, straining, and setting aside to dry
ADD the fryer oil to the wok and heat to 350F, then fry the the shrimp for an initial first fry for 2 minutes until lightly golden
REMOVE the shrimp, let cool for 5 minutes, reheat the oil to 350F, then add the shrimp for a second fry for 5 minutes until deeply golden brown
REMOVE the fryer oil, then reheat the wok as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the remaining garlic, ginger, and whites of green onions, and toss until fragrant for about 15 seconds
ADD the sauce mixture plus 1/4 cup water, then let reduce for 5 minutes until about 40% reduced
ADD the shrimp and walnuts to the wok and toss for 15 seconds, then remove from heat immediately
FINISH with greens of green onions