[Stitchawl]

OK... first up, Cantonese style "Shrimp with Lobster Sauce"
(No lobster in the dish, it's the same sauce that's used for "Lobster Cantonese.") This will also demonstrate the prep work common in Chinese cooking. Everything gets prepped and the assembled into groups that get added together. Have several small bowls on hand for this purpose. The prep work is far more intensive than the actual cooking, but it tends to be the same prep work (grouping together of "almost" the same ingredients into bowls.)

Very easy to make. The main flavorings are the fermented black beans and the pork. The prep time is about 20 minutes and cooking time less than 4-5. It looks complicated, but if you assemble all the ingredient groups into separate little dishes, it's just adding and stirring, adding and stirring. That's another point: do NOT stop stirring! Keep everything moving all the time!

SHRIMP WITH LOBSTER SAUCE
Yield: 3 to 4 servings if served alone; 6 to 8 servings if
served with 3 other dishes

1 lb. shrimp (raw, weighed with the shell) You can use prawns if that's what your local market sells. They taste the same. Use medium size, unpeeled, uncooked.

MARINADE:
1/2 egg white
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 tablespoon drysherry
1/4 teaspoon sugar

2 eggs

First Group (put together into a small dish)
2-3 cloves garlic
2 heaping teaspoons fermented black beans (if very salty looking, rinse)
2 slices fresh ginger root (Each about the size of a 50 cent piece)


3-4 scallions (white and green parts)

BINDER: (put together into a small dish)
1 tablespoon corn starch
2-3 tablespoons chicken stock


2nd Group Seasonings: (put together into a small dish)
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon dark Chinese soy sauce (do NOT use Japanese soy sauce!)
1/2 teaspoon sugar


1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) ground pork
2-3 tablespoons peanut oil (corn or olive will work too, but olive will smoke)

PREPARATION: Shell, de-vein, split, wash, drain, and dry shrimp.
Mix shrimp with the 1/2 egg white, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon
corn starch, 1 tablespoon sherry, and 1/4 teaspoon
sugar. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour, up to 12 hours. (I often don't.)

Beat the remaining 1 1/2 eggs lightly.
Mince the garlic, black beans and ginger. Keep together in a dish.
Cut the scallions into 2 inch pieces.
Dissolve 1 tablespoon corn starch in 2-3 tablespoons chicken stock.
Into a small bowl put 1 tablespoon sherry, 1 teaspoon DARK soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar.
Measure into another bowl 1/2 cup stock.
Set aside 1/2 cup ground pork.



COOKING PROCEDURE: Place wok over high flame for 30 seconds. Add
2-3 tablespoons oil and heat for 20 seconds or until oil is very
hot but not smoking.
Add the black beans, garlic, and ginger, Stir-fry 15 seconds.
Add pork and continue stirring until the
pork turns white (2-3 minutes).
Restir shrimp in marinade with
chopsticks; then add to wok and stir-fry until they turn pink
(2-3 minutes).
Add 1 tablespoon sherry, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Mix well. Add scallions. Mix again.
Add 1/2 cup stock. Bring to a boil. Cook over a medium
flame for 2-3 minutes.
Remix binder and add, pouring with one hand while you stir with the other until the liquid thickens.
Stir in the eggs, turning off the flame immediately. Empty
contents of wok into a heated serving dish. Serve immediately.

Serve with rice.

SUBSTITUTIONS: For the shrimp you can substitute a 1 1/4 lb.
lobster. Cut it in serving pieces, omit the marinade, and
proceed as recipe indicates.

You can substitute 14 oz. scallops. If you use bay scallops,
leave them whole; if you use sea scallops, cut each one into 3
slices across as you would a water chestnut. Marinate both as
you would shrimp.

TIPS: It is important that the flame be turned off immediately
after the eggs are added to achieve a smooth, flowing sauce.

Most Americans are used to eating this dish with an abundance
of sauce because many of the Chinese-American restaurants serve
it this way. The recipe given here is a more authentic version.
If you prefer more sauce, increase the stock cup, and the binder.


Stitchawl