Hey you! Thank you for coming back this week to see what tasty flavor I have in store for you. This week I am bringing you a shrimp tempura bowl that I threw together last weekend and turned out better than I expected.
This week’s recipe is relatively easy but the flavors are more than you bargain for. So, pull up a chair and pour a drink because this recipe is sure to please.
In preparing this dish I am going to give you a few little tricks that made things easier. I used a mandolin, but if you don’t have one don’t stress just slice your veggies thin. For this recipe you will need:
• 2 bags of frozen colossal shrimp (I got this from Walmart)
• Tempura batter mix
• 8-10 radishes
• 2-3 cucumbers (I used mini ones)
• A bag of carrot sticks
• Jasmine rice – I used the single-serve cups
• Soy sauce
• Garlic chili sauce (found by the soy sauce in any of the local stores)
• 1-2 limes
• Sugar
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• Vegetable oil
Thaw the shrimp and cut 2-3 small slits on the belly side of the shrimp. Then stretch the shrimp out in as straight a line as you can get without tearing it in pieces. I used a store-bought tempura batter that I found at Food Lion to make life easier.
You just mix it with water, dip the shrimp in and fry. When frying the shrimp, you don’t want to overcrowd your pot. I filled a small pot about half full of oil and only put 4 pieces in at a time. When I pulled the shrimp out, I laid them on paper towels to drain off any excess oil and to prevent the shrimp from getting soggy. Then I transferred the cooled shrimp to a larger dish with foil to store while frying the remaining shrimp. This step prevents the shrimp from getting soggy from the oil runoff.
While each batch of shrimp was frying, I sliced the veggies. Like I mentioned before, I used a mandolin to get the cucumbers and radishes sliced thin, but you can cut them by hand as well. I also made my sauce while the shrimp was cooking. Now let me warn you, I don’t measure anything for this sauce but I will give as accurate a description as possible – haha.
Pour some of the garlic chili sauce in a bowl – probably close to 4-5 tablespoons. Then add the soy sauce. You want the soy sauce to thin out the garlic chili sauce but you don’t want to only taste soy sauce, so add probably 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce. Next add about ¼ cup sugar, the juice of 1-2 limes (taste it before you add the second lime) and mince the garlic cloves and add them to the sauce. Mix well and set aside.
Once the shrimp was done frying, I put my rice cups in the microwave and then it was time to assemble the bowls. Put the rice on the bottom and then you want to create three sections with the veggies – one section for each. Then take 4 pieces of shrimp and lean them on each other so they stand up. Now drizzle that spicey sauce all over everything and just like that, dinner is served!
You can make this your own by swapping chicken for the shrimp or even dipping squash, mushrooms or zucchini in the tempura batter for a meatless meal. You could add spring rolls or potstickers on the side but no matter what you do make it your own.
I hope this meal inspires you to step outside the box and try something different and as always, I am sending love from my kitchen to yours!
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