Aged Shaoxing Wine and Soy Sauce Prawns 花雕醬油大明蝦

"Heck it!" My mind was thinking about these two words when I finally decided to pick up a pack of frozen prawns. Why so dramatic? Because the price for 6 prawns was well over $30 USD. I could have substitute with much cheaper shrimps instead.

But it's not like I cook prawns all the time, most likely less than twice a year. I guess a little indulgence once a long while should be fine. And to make it worth the money paid, I just have to make sure the final success of pricey prawn dish.

Aged Shaoxing wine and soy sauce prawns 花雕醬油大明蝦 - 

Ingredients?

• 450 grams prawns
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 red chilies
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 chunk old ginger
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon aged Shaoxing wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Some potato starch

How?

Scrape-off the skin then slice the old ginger to about 1mm thickness slices. Peel the garlic cloves. Destem then slice the red chilies diagonally. Destem the scallion then slice to shorter sections. However, do save some diagonally sliced green part pieces for garnish in the end.

To prep the prawns, use a kitchen scissor and trim-off the antenna, legs, and especially that pointy tip on the head. Then insert the scissor inside the gap between the head shell and the body part.

Run down the scissor and cut an opening in the middle of the back all the way to the last segment close to the tail. From there, around the second or third segment, gently break open the shell and pick out the intestinal tract. It should be fairly easy to spot the dark line due to the size of the prawn, meaning thicker tract as a result.

Don't pick up the orange tract if there's any. In fact you should be happy that you hit the jackpot! It's basically fertile gonads with roe and very yummy stuff. Kind of like crab roe or crab paste, the orange thing will enhance the umami of the overall dish, and a delicacy to munch on.

Once the prawns are prepped, marinate them with 1 tablespoon of aged Shaoxing wine, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 2 slices of ginger. About 10 minutes, sprinkle some potato starch and coat the prawns all around.

Preferably use a clay pot, drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium heat. Wait till the pot and the oil get hot. Add in the prawns and sear till slightly golden browned on both sides. Once ready, scoop out the prawns first.

Still using the same pot, add more oil if needed. Add in 6 peeled garlic cloves along with red chilies, scallion sections, and 2 ginger slices. Sear till aromatic and maybe slightly charred.

Add back the prawns and give it a quick toss. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Toss and cook for about 30 seconds, no more than a minute.

Right before the end of cooking, pour in 1 more tablespoon of aged Shaoxing wine along the inner edge of the pot. That direct contact with the heated surface will further bringing out the aroma of the wine. 

Garnish with some diagonally sliced scallion and serve right away.

Thank goodness these prawns were DELICIOUS. It's like double the umami power compared to regular shrimps. And not just the prawns itself, the sauce was super flavorful too and definitely killed more rice because of it. 

So I guess that was money well-spent?

Extended reading:

• Chinese spicy sausage and shrimp rice using rice cooker
• Shrimp and pork wontons in vinegar and chili oil sauce
• Shaoxing drunken shrimp 紹興醉蝦

Japanese Burdock Root and Pork Stir-Fry, a Little Sweet and Savory Combo on the Plate

If a little extra labor work is not a problem for you, I would say 80% of the time try to shave the Japanese burdock root with a knife. And don't worry about uneven thickness. The goal is aiming for the uneven, flat, and wide cutting surface.

That way, you can get the most flavor out of burdock root, and on the other hand, the burdock root slices get to absorb most of seasonings in the dish. Just a bit of muscle work though. If that sounds too troublesome or tiring, simply cut the burdock root into thin sectioned strips instead.

Japanese burdock root and pork stir-fry - 

Ingredients?

• 2 feet/about 60 centimeter long burdock root
• 500 grams pork belly slices
• 1 big garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some toasted white sesame seeds

Sauce mixture:

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon sake or Chinese rice wine
• 1 teaspoon sugar

How?

It's up to you if you would like to peel the burdock root or not. I usually do due to texture preference. 

So have a big bowl filled with icy cold water. While shaving down the burdock root or cutting through it, transfer the burdock root to the water. Just let it sit there while prepping other ingredients.

Use semi-fatty pork slices, this will help giving a smoother bite to the woody burdock root in the end. Slice the pork to smaller or shorter pieces if needed. Mix the pork slices with 1 tablespoon of corn starch all around. Peel and grate one big garlic clove.

Premix the sauce by combining 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mirin, 1 tablespoon of sake or Chinese rice wine, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Try to stir a bit to help the sugar dissolve.

When ready to cook, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Add in grated garlic and let it warm up a little. Just a quick moment, otherwise the heat will burn the garlic soon after.

Drain out the water for the burdock root. Further pat dry with paper towel then add to the pan. Switch to medium high heat here since there's no more worries about burning the grated garlic. Stir-fry and cook for couple minutes.

Push burdock root to the side then add in the pork to empty area. Cook till separated and about set. You can also stir-fry a bit to break the pork from sticking to one another.

Pour in the premixed sauce and stir-fry with all the ingredients in the pan. Make sure everything has been coated with the seasonings. Continue to cook till the sauce has been reduced and even appear darker brown on some parts.

Plate and sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds.

By the way, I got this premium double roasted white sesame seeds from Kuki 九鬼, a prestigious brand from Japan. The easiest way to describe its aroma difference is by comparing to the regular white sesame seeds that we often tasted.

Such as the white sesame seeds from a bun then. Frankly speaking, it basically tasted like nothing. But the double roasted white sesame seeds I've got here, was like 10 times the nutty aroma. More so like a milder version of peanut butter. Highly recommended to give it a try if you ever find one at the supermarket.

Other recipes using burdock root (gobo):

• Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう (burdock root cooked in Japanese seasonings)
• Chicken and gobo takikomi gohan (鶏ごぼうの炊き込みご飯)
• Not quite the regular miso soup, it's tonjiru time (豚汁)