today, we're cooking
one of Vietnam's
most beloved drinking snack
Tom rang muoi
which literally translates to
roasted salted shrimp
although you'll find it
more commonly on the Google as
salt-and-pepper shrimp
it is a
crunchy bite-size delight
that is coated in a salty spicy seasoning
you know,
the perfect drinking companion
and because right now we all need a
drink, as well as a snack
let's get to work
this recipe is surprisingly very simple to do
but requires a bit of logistics
and coordination
so first task of the today
chopping anything that needs to be
chopped
mainly: garlic
onions
and whatever coriander you have left
smash
chop
and voila
put these lovely ones aside
second step
time to mix up
the spices
I'm taking out my stove because
here's our peppercorn and we
will roast it live, before crushing it into little pieces
yes, we're fancy like that
obviously, you can also just use a teaspoon of fine
ground black pepper, if you prefer
Add 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt
half a teaspoon of paprika
and a pinch of chilli flakes for whatever amount that
suits your buccal tolerance for heat
1/2 a teaspoon of ginger powder and finally
the secret to this dish multiple layers of savory delight
chicken stock powder
this thing is actually quite salty
so I'd recommend you add only a half a
teaspoon to the mix
give everyone a good ride around the bowl and
there you go
awesome seasoning complete
now, let's look at our shrimp
for an authentic
Vietnamese experience
use a medium size shrimp with head and tail
you'll still
want to give them a little beauty treatment
start by trimming away the
sharp edges around the head
to do this,
simply slide your scissors between the
rostrum and the small antenna
and chop!
the roof of your mouth will thank you later
then, degut the shrimps
here are two techniques I found on the internet
for technique A,
gently fold the shrimp to surface the meat between two pieces of shell
insert a toothpick and pull out the black digestive track
yeah, that's the
nasty stuff you want to get out
technique B
make a small cut along the
back of the shrimp
see that black string?
that's the grit you want to pull out
this second technique worked much better for me
but beware of cutting your fingers
through the process
once your shrimps are clean and sexy
pat them with a towel
dry them as much as possible
because we're about to get to the
frying step!
shrimps of juicy ones
so you'll want to give the heating oil a head start
to ensure optimal results
while our vegetable oil is warming up
add a cup of corn starch
to a container
which we will use to coat our shrimps
make sure every single bit
of the shrimp get its fair share of starch
nobody gets left behind
check on
the oil
if you don't see bubbles coming up the wooden chopsticks
then your oil is not ready yet
keep yourself busy by tapping any excess starch off the shrimp
check again on the oil
and oh looks like we're ready to fry these
babies
each side requires no more than 30 seconds to a minute to get golden
also, make sure not to overcrowd the pan
which is the reason why we're prepping the
next batch
as these folks are taking an oil bath
technically, she'd be delicious as is
but I'm sure you'll agree that some fried garlic
never hurt anyone
unless you're Queen Elizabeth
but I'm diverging,
back to the name of this dish
which includes the words
salted and shrimp
if you wanted to see big chunks of salt
that will make the
dish way too salty
to trick the eye,
we will use some shrimp crackers
this is completely optional and
you could also use store-bought shrimp crackers
to make your life easier
however, if you decide to fry your own
crackers, don't just stare at them like I do
as they curl up
stretch them out and
flip them over so that they reach their full potential
which also means more
crunchy area for you
and who doesn't like more crunch
now that we have all
our ingredients ready
time to assemble
bring back all the shrimps to the yard
on the low medium heat
sprinkle them with a few sprinkles off your spices
also, better put less than too much
because you've been warned
this thing is salty!
add half of your green onions
as well as your fried
garlic
give everybody a good toss
and
plate!
make sure to scrape out the bottom
of the pan, because that's where all the goodness is at
finally, on to our fake
salt
smash one cracker into little pieces
and ta da!
fake baked salt
sprinkle
or in my case, strategically place the fake salt around your plate
and here we
go
hello George
hello Albert
where shall we go?
into An's belly!
these smells amazing
because of the last frying
the cornstarch absorbed all of the salt
the pepper, the paprika
oh! we can smell it
now, let's see how crunchy it is
it's all
coated beautifully
Wow
crunchy, spicy, salty
I mean, what more can you ask for
and the meat is still juicy because we didn't overcook it
so there's a beautiful contrast between the crust and the inside
I need a drink
I don't
have beer so,
we'll go for a little Cabernet Sauvignon
probably not the most
optimal wine pairing
but you know what
sometimes, you just need a drink and a
salty snack
this is it for this week's recipe
I hope you enjoyed it
let me know in the
comments below what kind of modifications you would have done (to) it
what kind of personal magic touch
you would have given it
on this, I'll
see you next time