Honey Walnut Shrimp
To be completely honest, I don't really like this dish that much, at least not at most restaurants. It's a bit too sweet and greasy for my taste, and I don't particularly like the thick, heavy feeling of the sauce and the batter. In my first attempt, I tried to follow a recipe that I found online, but I got the problems I outlined above. So I made some major changes! Note though, that the picture above still is the old version. I added much less sugar and changed the consistency of the batter, so it tastes more like a popcorn shrimp, but I definitely prefer it over the "traditional" version (no clue what constitutes a traditional version of this dish, though).
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 40 min
Ingredients
> water (1 cup)
> granulated sugar (1/3 cup)
> walnuts (1/2 cup)
> shrimp (1 pound)
> potato starch, eggs, panko breadcrumbs
> mayonnaise (1/4 cup)
> honey (2 tbsp)
> oil
Instructions
1. Make the candied walnuts. Mix water and granulated sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Add the walnuts, and continue to boil for 2 minutes. Drain, remove, and let the walnuts dry/cool.
2. Make the sauce. Mix together the mayonnaise and honey.
3. Prepare the standard three-stage frying pipeline: a bowl for flour (I used potato starch), a bowl for eggs, and a bowl for panko breadcrumbs.
4. Fry the shrimp. Heat enough oil in a deep pan or wok over medium-high heat. Coat the shrimp in the flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs, and fry until golden brown, around 3 minutes each side. Remove and let drain on paper towels.
5. Toss the shrimp in the sauce.
6. Serve the shrimp; sprinkle the candied walnuts over the top. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Consider roasting/toasting the walnuts. It'll bring out a deeper flavor within the walnuts.
> The traditional batter is made using a mixture of egg whites and mochiko (rice flour). Something like 3 egg whites and 2/3 a cup of mochiko. I tried doing the same thing with potato flour, and not only was the result not as crispy as I would have liked it to be, but it also was unnecessarily thick and weighed the dish down.
> As a sidenote, consider adding a touch of minced garlic to the sauce as well, to brighten up the dish a bit.