Sesame Shrimp

My top shrimp dish of the week is this crispy fried brown shrimp tossed in a honey sesame sauce served over steamed vegetables. Visit us at Harbor House in Hatteras Village for fresh shrimp!

Shrimp season in the Pamlico Sound started about two weeks ago and we are enjoying every bite! The shrimp we catch in the sound are brown shrimp and those caught in the ocean during the winter are white shrimp or green tails. They are still great eating but brown shrimp, or summer shrimp, are the sweetest, tastiest, tiniest thing you will pull out of the inshore waters of North Carolina. In my opinion, there is nothing that compares to them.

Fried brown shrimp is what summer has always been about. I actually set out to fry shrimp and serve with cocktail sauce – the classic dish. But I switched gears and decided to make one of my favorites, Asian fried shrimp. I call it Asian because I use ingredients from across cuisines so don’t want to nor mean to insult any culture. These are just the ingredients I have fallen in love with over the years of travel and friendships.

I’m calling this dish: sesame shrimp – brown shrimp fried in a honey sesame sauce served over steamed vegetables. I eat a lot of shrimp so am always pushing my limits and trying new ideas, but lately it seems like I have been fine tuning old favorites and it’s been fun. My fatal flaw as creative home cook is always thinking I will remember the recipe I created on a whim after looking in the fridge. Usually that doesn’t happen but I am hoping through sharing recipes with y’all I will remember them too!

The highest compliment I can get from my family or any of my friends when I feed them is, “what kind of meat was that?” I made this dish tonight and my mom asked, “what is that? It tasted like pork.” (We stopped eating pork regularly a few years ago so I am very surprised that she not only misidentified shrimp but thought it was pork!!) I told her the plate was shrimp and she was shocked. I was beaming, I fooled my mom who is a fishmongress, a fisherman’s wife, and a fisherman’s mother – into thinking shrimp was pork 😊

I truly think it was marinating the shrimp in mirin before frying that pushed this dish over the edge. I have done this before with chicken and thought it would work well with shrimp too. I have been experimenting with ways to incorporate seasoning into my seafood before before cooking and this was a winner! I also added the pineapple juice to the sauce because I had it on hand and thought it would lend some sweetness. It was great but if you don’t have it on hand, no need to buy an entire bottle for this just add a bit more broth and 1t more honey.

For frying – I use fancy starch from the Asian grocer but you can use corn starch 100%. But if you do happen to come across mung bean or tapioca starch they are incredible for the kitchen. So many uses from noodles to sweets but the mung bean starch truly gives the lightest crispiest, easiest seafood coating I have ever tried.

Ingredients & Instructions

Servings are based on how much shrimp you use, the sauce will make 2 cups so plenty for 2 pounds of shrimp. The sauce is good on any kind of protein, stir-fry, dipping sauce, etc.

Shrimp —

1 – 2 lb. shrimp, any size, we are going to cut them so it doesn’t matter too much. 1lb will feed 2-3, 2lb will feed 4-5

1/4C mirin

¼ C tapioca, mung-bean, or corn starch

Toasted Sesame seeds for garnish

Sauce – Makes 2 cups or enough for 2 pounds

1C beef or vegetable stock

¼ C Pineapple Juice

¼ C Soy Sauce

2T Oyster Sauce

1T Ketchup

3T Honey

1T Rice Wine Vinegar

1T Mild Gochujang (can substitute 1t Sambal Oelek or any other fresh ground chili)

1t Toasted Sesame Oil

2T tapioca, mung-bean, or corn starch (will mix with ¼ C water to make slurry)

Vegetables –

1C sliced mushrooms (wild mushrooms are fantastic with this, more meaty so they held up really well against the fried shrimp.)

¼ thinly sliced onion

½ crown broccoli, cut into small pieces

Peel and devein shrimp, or just peel them if they are small enough it doesn’t matter in my opinion. So I used a 31-35 shrimp and peeled them, then took scissors and cut them into thirds or halves depending on the size. You can use a knife for sure but scissors are so easy and useful in the kitchen, a greatly undercooked tool. Put these pieces into a bowl and add mirin. Allow to marinate for 15-20 minutes while you get started on the vegetables and sauce.

Thinly slice a quarter of an onion lengthwise, slice mushrooms, and cut broccoli into small pieces. Add a teaspoon of butter to a large skillet, add vegetables and toss to coat. To this add about a third of a cup of water and cover to steam. Allow to steam for only a couple of minutes then turn the heat off and crack the lid. The veggies won’t be done yet but don’t worry – they will continue to steam as we prepare the shrimp. By the time we get everything to the table they will be perfect.

Into a medium saucepan add everything but the corn starch slurry. Stir vigorously with a whisk to combine, allow to come to a boil over medium low heat. I do this while peeling my shrimp. Once the sauce comes to a boil, allow to cook for a few minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning – if it is too salty, add more vinegar, too sweet add vinegar or soy sauce or more stock. Once you have perfected the flavor allow it to come to a slow boil again – we do not want it at a rolling boil because it may splatter on you and/or scotch.

In the measuring cup add the corn starch and 1/4 C water, stir to make a slurry. At the stove, start whisking the sauce and gradually pour in the corn starch slurry. Keep whisking while it comes back up to a slow boil. Allow it to cook – keep stirring – for a minute or two until it gets thick. Turn the heat off and start frying the shrimp.

Toss the shrimp in the starch, put in a strainer over a bowl to get rid of the excess flour. Drop piece by piece into the peanut oil, stir immediately to keep from fusing together. They will fry so fast, do not walk away – this is a 90 second operation! Remove and drain on paper towels or a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet. Fry the next batch of shrimp and repeat until finished. After all shrimp are done, we are going to put them in a large bowl. To the bowl add the sauce and toss to combine. Serve over steamed vegetables and/or steamed rice, finish with a garnish of toasted sesame seeds and/or sliced green onions.