Chinese Restaurant Banquet Walnut Shrimp

Step 1

Remove the shells from the body and leave the tail for presentation if you prefer. Use a sharp knife to cut the back to devein the shrimp. Add salt and baking soda to the shrimp and let it marinate for 15 minutes. The baking soda will give the shrimp that "crunchy" texture

Step 2

Traditionally, walnuts are deep-fried in oil. I found that just toasting the nuts on a dry pan until fragrant is really good too (and less oil to the already-indulgent dish don't you think ?). But if you want to deep fry the walnuts, don't let me stop you though. Toast the nuts for 4-5 minutes over medium-low heat until fragrant. Set aside to let them cool down a bit

Step 3

Most Chinese will coat the walnut with simple syrup like sugar and water in 1:1 ratio. I really like this version of candied walnut. Line a plate with parchment paper. Put the sugar,butter and toasted walnuts in the pan over medium-low heat. Keep stirring until the sugar starts to melt and keep stirring to let those mixture coats the walnuts, this will take about 5 minutes or so. The nuts will clump together because the sugar is sticky. Transfer immediately to the plate lined with parchment paper and use a spatula to separate the nuts right away so you won't have just one large clump of nuts. Let them cool down completely and they will harden and frosted nicely

Step 4

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp of salt. Prepare a bowl of ice-cold water. Add the broccoli florets and boil for about 30 seconds or so. Remove with a slotted spoon to the ice-cold water to stop the cooking process and to preserve the bright green color

Step 5

Rinse the shrimp off thoroughly with water. You don't want any trace of baking soda on your shrimp. Pat the shrimp dry with absorbent paper towel

Step 6

Lightly beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the egg whites and cornstarch to the shrimp and combine to coat all the shrimp pieces

Step 7

Mix all ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside

Step 8

Preheat about 2 inches height of oil in a small deep pot. When you put a skewer into the oil, you will see bubbles around it. The oil is ready. Gently lower the shrimp pieces into the oil and fry until they are lightly golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Fry them in batches so you won't lower the oil temperature too much. This is the first round of frying. Put the fried shrimp on an absorbent paper towel

Step 9

Let the oil come back to hot again. Test with a skewer again. Get the shrimp you fry from the first batch and fry again for the second time, this round is to crisp it up and it goes much faster, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the oil to absorbent paper towel again. Repeat with the rest

Step 10

Put the shrimp in a large mixing bowl. Pour the sauce over and toss to combine. Add some toasted white sesame seeds if you want

Step 11

Arrange the blanched broccoli on the perimeter of the serving plate. Put the shrimp on the plate and scatter the candied walnut pieces all over the shrimp and serve immediately