Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Shrimp with Sugar Snap Peas and Cashew Butter *Recipe #16 Page 100*

This dish is exploding with flavor! This recipe delivers in a hurry. It was as simple as making some jasmine rice and cooking the shrimp in the sauce. I think this would be a great weeknight meal that cooks in around 30-40 minutes and is both fresh and healthy. I recommend this dish based on the flavors and textures alone. You could do this dish with chicken also. I am happy that I decided to go ahead and cook this dish tonight. My mom really enjoyed it.

Note: My local grocery did not have fresh shrimp so I had to settle for frozen. Even tough they were frozen the dish was still fabulous. I skipped the step of cooking the shrimp and I simply added them at the end so they could heat through. I also forgot my sesame oil and had to substitute vegetable oil instead. The dish was so flavorful that I didn't miss the sesame oil.

Shrimp w/ Sugar Snap Peas and Cashew Butter:
Serves 4
Time - 35 minutes (actual - about 40)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup roasted cashews
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. minced ginger
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. sambal chile paste
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails on
1 cup sugar snap peas, finely sliced
3/4 cup soy sauce *this is almost the entire bottle* - I think you could use about 1/2 cup
1/2 lemon, juice only
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 cups cooked jasimne rice
Fresh cilantro, for garnish
Scallions, cut into thin strips, for garnish
*Tyler's recipe does not state when or how to cook the jasmine rice. Follow the package directions for 2 cups. This takes about 20 minutes of active cooking and 10 minutes to rest. I started this first because I wanted it to be fresh and hot when the shrimp were ready.

For the cashew butter, combine butter and roasted cashews in a food processor until well combined. *Note: I used my blender to crumble the cashews and then softened some butter and mixed it by hand* On a piece of parchment paper, form cashew butter into a log shape. Roll the parchment paper around the butter and twist the ends. Refrigerate until ready to use. Note: I would do this earlier in the day. You really don't want cold butter from the fridge on your hot rice and shrimp. It would be ideal to pull out of fridge and set on counter while dish is cooking. Note: This cashew butter is terrific. It is worth it to only make the cashew butter and serve with rice or anything else you can top it with. I have quite a bit of it leftover and plan to use it all.

In a large saute pan heat sesame oil (*2tbsp could be reduced to 1tbsp), ginger, garlic, and sambal paste over high heat; toast until fragrant. Toss in shrimp and saute until shrimp turn pink. Remove the shrimp and set aside on a plate. Add sliced sugar snap peas to the pan, then add soy sauce, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Cook until peas are crisp-tender. Toss shrimp back in the pan to combine. Serve over rice with a spoonful of cashew butter and garnish with fresh cilantro and cut scallions.

Happy Cooking!!

5 comments:

  1. Kim- This sounds absolutely awesome. I am so printing this out. It sound spacked with flavors of all things good!!! Thanks for reporting..

    ReplyDelete
  2. This does sound like a wonderful combination of flavours - healthy too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have this one marked to try--glad to know you liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oooh, this looks delicous. I love these kind of stir fry dishes, and I even have a bag of shrimp in the freezer!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love stir fry dishes.
    Here on the east coast we can never get fresh shrimp, it is only sold frozen and it's just fine.
    This is a great recipe, I will try it for sure.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment! At the moment I am having a huge problem with spam so I've had to add comment moderation and close off comments to anonymous users. I apologize for the trouble and hope to return my comments to normal shortly.