Ever had a dish so good at a restaurant that you searched high and low for the recipe so that you can enjoy it at home? One of my readers, Sandy W., enjoyed a Bacon Wrapped Shrimp With Vegetables dish at a Chinese restaurant years ago and has been trying to find the recipe. She hasn't been able to find anything close so she wrote to me to ask if I had any ideas.
Her description of the dish got me really intrigued. It sounded delicious! Bacon? On shrimp? Yum! I knew I had to try it! Unfortunately, the restaurant that Sandy visited closed down years ago so I wasn't able to call them to get more information on this dish. So, here is my take on Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Vegetables!
(You'll find the recipe at the bottom of this post)
Preparing the veggies:
I used carrots, snow peas and baby corn for this dish but you can try substituting any vegetable in this recipe with Bok Choy, broccoli, mushrooms, celery or cabbage!
Cut the carrot into thin slices. I cut mine into little flowers. Cut the carrot in half first, then cut small slits lengthwise approximately every centimeter.
For the snow peas, don't forget to remove the string along the sides. They tend to be tough and fibrous so it's a good idea to remove them.
Preparing the shrimp:
Peeled and deveined tail-on shrimp works best for this dish. It makes the shrimp really easy to handle. Cut the bacon in half lengthwise so you get two long, thin strips of bacon. Wrap each shrimp with one thin strip of bacon. Season both sides with a dash of salt and pepper.
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Putting it all together:
Before you start cooking anything, make sure you have all of your ingredients ready; including everything you need for the sauce. Stir-frying is QUICK, so you won't have the time to scramble around your kitchen looking for your ingredients.
Heat up cooking oil in a large, shallow frying pan over medium-high heat. Carefully place the bacon-wrapped shrimp on to the pan. Resist the temptation to move them all around the pan! Let them sit for about a minute, then use a pair of tongs to flip them over to cook for another minute.
Remove the bacon-wrapped shrimp from the frying pan and set aside. Fry the garlic in the same pan till aromatic, then add all of the vegetables. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
Now, the sauce!!
Add about ⅓ cup of water or chicken stock and 1 - 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (to taste). If you're using chicken stock, you'll probably need less soy sauce than if you're using water. You're going to pick up all the flavors in the frying pan from the bacon, shrimp, garlic and veggies. Yum!!
(Tip: Freeze chicken stock in ice cube trays so you always have chicken stock ready. Perfect for Chinese style fried veggies like bok choy and kai lan)
Add salt to taste, then add the cornstarch mixture to thicken it up. Let the sauce boil for a few seconds before turning off the heat. Finally, add the bacon-wrapped shrimp to the pan and give everything a quick stir before transferring it on to your serving plate. Serve it right away with steamed rice.
Enjoy!
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 8 large shrimp peeled and deveined tail-on
- 4 strips bacon
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 cloves of garlic either minced or whole cloves
- ¼ cup thinly sliced carrot
- ½ cup snow peas
- ½ cup baby corn
- ⅓ cup water or chicken stock
- 1 - 2 tablespoons soy sauce to taste
- Salt to taste
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water
Instructions
- Cut the strips of bacon in half lengthwise. This should give you 8 thin strips of bacon total. Wrap each shrimp with one thin strip of bacon.
- Season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large shallow frying pan over medium-high heat. Place the bacon wrapped shrimp on to the pan. Don't move them! Let them sit for a minute, then use a pair of tongs to flip them over to cook the other side for another minute.
- Remove the bacon wrapped shrimp from the pan. Set aside.
- Toss the garlic in the same frying pan you used to cook the shrimp. If you're using whole cloves of garlic, get the cloves really brown for a really rich, roasted garlic flavor. If using minced garlic, just fry till aromatic. Be careful not to burn it!
- Add the carrots, snow peas and baby corn. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
- Add water or chicken stock and soy sauce to the pan. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the frying pan well - that's where all the flavor is! (Make sure you use a wooden spatula so you don't scratch your frying pan)
- Add the cornstarch mixture (cornstarch + water). Let it boil for a few seconds before turning off the heat. The sauce should thicken up really quickly.
- Serve immediately with steamed rice.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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