Main Ingredients:
Arctic Shrimp: 1 pound; Rice: 1 small bowl; Garlic: at least one head.
Additional Ingredients:
Scallions: as needed; Ginger: as needed; Red Chili Pepper: as needed; Tempura Flour: as needed.
Seasonings:
Fermented Black Beans: a few.
Flavor: Garlic Flavor; Cooking Method: Stir-fry; Time: One hour; Difficulty: Moderate.
Detailed Steps for Cooking Beefangtang Guoba Shrimp
Arctic shrimp, rice, garlic, ginger, red chili pepper, tempura flour. I used Arctic shrimp because fresh shrimp is hard to find and expensive here. Arctic shrimp is convenient as it doesn’t need much preparation after thawing. Make sure to completely dry the shrimp after thawing. The rice should be leftover and slightly dry. Tempura flour not only makes the batter crispy when fried, but also works better than starch or regular flour.
A quick note, it’s best to have some essential kitchen tools if you cook often. A salad spinner is useful for draining ingredients; a flour sifter is essential for baking; the mesh splatter guard protects the stove and our skin when frying.
Add a little oil, salt, garlic powder, and a spoon of tempura flour to the rice, mix well, and flatten it in a plastic bag. If you’re only frying the rice cakes, you can add cumin, chili powder, curry powder, or any other seasoning you like.
Fry the rice cakes in a non-stick pan over low heat for a crispy texture. For an even crispier result, deep fry them. While frying the rice cakes, spin the shrimp in the salad spinner to remove excess water.
The rice cakes took slightly longer to fry than I expected. During this time, you can chop the garlic into small pieces, but not too fine. Slice the red chili peppers into rings.
Add a spoon of tempura flour to the flour sifter, evenly dust it over the shrimp. I used too much here, one-third would be enough. Shake the basket after sifting to remove excess flour, leaving a thin layer on each shrimp.
Heat oil to fry the garlic. The garlic will sink at first, so stir it to prevent sticking to the bottom. Once it floats to the top, turn off the heat and let the residual heat turn the garlic golden brown. Then, remove all the garlic from the oil to prevent burning.
Fry the shrimp, use a splatter guard to allow air circulation and prevent oil splatters. Never cover the pan when frying, or you’ll risk a messy situation.
That’s basically it. I added a few fermented black beans for flavor, as this dish doesn’t require soy sauce. The shrimp is super crispy. I could enjoy a plate of this with some sesame and Sichuan peppercorn salt.
Sauté the fermented black beans, red chili peppers, and ginger slices until fragrant. Add all the ingredients to the pan and stir-fry. This dish doesn’t have any excess moisture, so it won’t become soggy.
Oops, a little mishap there.
