Honey Walnut Shrimp

Honey Walnut Shrimp

Backstory

On a recent trip to the grocery store, my wife came home with shrimp because she hadn’t had it in a while and she was craving it. This was before Easter so we were trying (in vain, mostly) to avoid meat on Fridays anyway. She also came home with McCormick’s Shrimp and Crab Boil to season and cook the shrimp she purchased. A few nights later she prepared the dish by following the instructions on the package, but the shrimp were too spicy for my taste. In addition, the shrimp were not peeled which added to my frustration.

Since I was not satisfied with the shrimp my wife served, I looked around for some recipes. Then it occurred to me that one of my family’s most popular dishes whenever we eat at a Chinese restaurant is Walnut Prawns. I remember my father asking a food server at our local take-out place one evening how the dish is prepared, and he replied, “With mayonnaise” and a few weeks after, recreating it at home several years ago with shrimp. (I’m still unsure where he found the recipe, as this was before the internet was available.)

Recipe

My source for the recipe is Food.People.Want.

Notes

No ingredient substitutions this time. However, I didn’t have any lettuce on hand.

Ingredients

1. Candied Walnuts. I might have added the walnuts a little too soon, as the mixture didn’t thicken until after I added them. After I realized my mistake, I left them in a little longer than I would have liked (partially so I can take pictures). As a result, when I moved the walnuts to my wax paper lined plate, the walnuts stuck together in the sweet glaze and then dried in what I can only describe as a walnut cookie. Before tossing them with the shrimp, I needed to give them a rough chop in order to break them up again.

Walnuts Boiling in the Sugar Water

Unintended Walnut Cookie

2. Shrimp. I’m a little surprised by my source’s instructions to shake off any excess corn starch. After the shrimp had been tossed in it there wasn’t any leftover. I didn’t have a candy thermometer on hand, so I guessed at the temperature of the oil when I put the shrimp in it. (I heated the oil for a good seven to ten minutes before I began.) I also made the mistake of putting the shrimp in the oil in groups of two at a time in some cases. They cooked that way–stuck together. It’s not a huge issue, but I prefer to eat the shrimp individually and it didn’t occur to me at the time to cook them in that manner.

Raw Shrimp In Corn Starch

3. Cooking equipment. In a restaurant setting, these shrimp would be deep-fried. This is essentially what the instructions dictate when it directs enough oil for a depth of one-an-a-half to two inches. I recommend using an old small or medium saucepan for two reasons. First, in my experience that prompted my baby back ribs recipe, cooking in this manner nearly destroyed my old saucepan. Secondly, a smaller saucepan requires less oil to reach the depth required. I used a large skillet. While I was able to fit all the shrimp in at once, it required a lot of cooking oil.

Final Thoughts

This dish would be a great appetizer when entertaining at home. It’s not the healthiest dish (deep-fried shellfish, sweet nuts, mayonnaise in the sauce) but it can be a great way to show off in the kitchen with no special skills. My only reservation with this dish is the name because I couldn’t taste the honey. It was definitely delicious. My wife is now jealous. She said, “I hate you!” as she was helping herself to seconds.

Enjoy!