MONDAY RECIPE POST - SHRIMP CHOW MEIN

We made this for Valentine's Day.  I found the recipe here.  It is a vegetable Chow Mein but we cooked the shrimp separately in a little oil and served it with the meal.  

Chow Mein by Rea Drummond - 4 servings

This was easy and it cooks quickly.  It was on the table 30 minutes after we started preparation.

8 ozs. thin lo mein noodles 

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 carrot, julienned

1/2 head Napa cabbage, sliced thin

1/2 onion, sliced

1/4 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth) 

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 teaspoon Sesame oil

Sliced green onions for garnish

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the package directions.  This only took five minutes for ours. Drain and set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the peanut oil.  

Add the carrots, cabbage and onions and cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth, soy sauce and sesame oil, then toss in the noodles.  

Top with sliced green onions.

How to quickly cook shrimp on the stovetop, a recipe found at this link.  

Serves 4

1 lb. raw medium shrimp (17 to 21 per pound), peeled and deveined.  (At this point you can either leave the tails on or remove depending on preference.)

1 tablespoon olive oil or butter, or a mix

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Place the oil or butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Tilt the pan as the oil warms or butter melts, to coat the bottom of the pan.

Add the shrimp to the hot pan.  (They should sizzle on contact).

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, or any favorite seasonings (suggested choices; chil spice, curry spice, a sprinkling of harissa).  We just used salt and pepper. 

Sauté the shrimp until pink and opaque.  The shrimp will start off looking grey and translucent, but will gradually become pink and opaque as they cook through.  The tails will also turn bright red if you leave them on.  

Cook the shrimp, stirring occasionally, until the flesh is totally pink and opaque, and you see no more grey.  Depending on the size of the shrimp and how many you have in the pan, this will usually take 4 to 5 minutes.

Transfer to a serving dish.  Serve sautéed shrimp immediately with pasta, over grains or as in our case, noodles.

Leftover shrimp is excellent as a snack or in cold salads.

The shrimp can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

I enjoyed this meal very much and although hubby did also, he is used to spicing his meals up a little more and found this a bit bland.  To counteract he added Sweet Chili Sauce as a condiment, and I did the same, though did not use quite as much. It is a delicious addition and made our meal a little sweet and hot. You can obviously add as much as you want depending on how spicy you like it.   If you prefer wholesome, plainer tasting food that tastes great as is, leave it off.

There are leftovers so we won't have to cook tomorrow.  At this website it will give you information on storing shrimp. 

Just for fun I have added one of my salt and pepper shaker sets.  I have a collection of seasonal ones that I use throughout the year.