Salt and Pepper Shrimps Recipe

This spicy dish flavored with chilies, ginger, fried salt and peppercorns makes a delicious suppertime treat. Serve with crusty warm bread. These succulent shrimps beg to be eaten with the fingers, so do provide finger bowls or hot cloths for your guest. "Fried Salt" is also known as "Cantonese salt" or simply "salt and pepper mix". It is widely used as a table condiment or as a dip for deep-fried or roasted food, but can also be an ingredient and it is best when freshly prepared.

Recipe: (Serves 3 to 4)

15-18 large raw shrimp (prawns), in the shell, about 450 g/1 lb.
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cm/0.5 inch piece fresh root ginger, peeled and very finely grated
2 fresh red chilies, seeded and sliced
2.5 ml/0.5 teaspoon granulated sugar
3-4 scallions (spring onions), sliced, to garnish

For the fried salt:

10 ml/2 teaspoons salt
5ml/1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns (can be substituted with black or white peppercorns)

Method:

Make the fried salt by dry-frying the salt and peppercorns in a heavy frying pan over a medium heat until the peppercorns begin to release their aroma. Cool the mixture, then tip into a mortar and crush with a pestle or process in a blender.

Carefully remove and discard the heads and legs from the raw shrimps. Leave the body shells and the tails in place. pat the prepared shrimps dry with kitchen paper. Heat the oil for deep-frying to 190°C/375°F or until a cube of day-old bread, added to the oil, browns in 30-45 seconds. Fry the shrimps for 1 minute, then lift them out and drain thoroughly on kitchen paper. Spoon 30 ml/2 tablespoons of the hot oil into a large frying pan, leaving the rest of the oil to one side to cool.

Heat the oil in the frying pan. Add the fried salt, with the finely chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chilies and sugar. Toss together for 1 minute, then add the shrimps and toss them over the heat for 1 minute more until they are coated and the shells are impregnated with the seasonings. Serve at once, garnished with the scallions.