Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Ma Po Shrimp


OK, so Ma Po Shrimp isn't an authentic Chinese dish, but it was my spin on one. Ma Po is a Szechuan dish consisting of tofu, minced meat (usually beef), in a spicy sauce. I made Ma Po Tofu a few weeks ago and liked it so much that I wanted to make it for Jon. He doesn't like tofu, so I decided to try it with shrimp.

Jon thought this was one of the best dishes I have made for him in a while. It had a lot of heat - just how he likes it!


Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound shrimp, deveined and cleaned
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 8 oz chicken broth
  • 1-2 tbsp chili paste; this stuff is hot so it's up to you how much you use
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 oz chicken broth

Directions

  • Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat; add garlic and onions, saute til tender
  • Add chili paste, soy sauce, and chicken broth; let simmer for 5 minutes
  • Add shrimp, cooking 1-2 minutes on each side until pink (since Jon likes heat I added another 1/2 tsp of chili paste with the shrimp)
  • Stir in the cornstarch mixture to thicken sauce
  • Serve over rice

I'm so happy that Jon loved this dish. I'll be adding it to the rotation.

I served it with garlic snow peas. I heated 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan, added 2 cloves of chopped garlic, and then added the snow peas. I sauteed them for 5 minutes until tender but still slightly crispy. They were the perfect side for this dish.

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4 comments:

  1. i think the shrimp substitution was a great idea! i'd love to try this dish...

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  2. I love Ma Po Tofu but I've never tried to make it. I'm going to try this. So scared it will pale in comparison to the stuff I get at my favorite little chinese restaurant. :-) Looks good, though. Thanks for posting.

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  3. Wowza! You weren't kidding about the heat! This was very good. Thanks!

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  4. I made this tonight with chicken and LOVED it - thanks for the great recipe!

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