Ok, so if you want to go slowly and not mess up your costly shrimp investment, you can always follow the directions carefully at your own pace. You’ll need time to cook the rice anyway. We posted a similar shrimp stir fry recipe way back when we started this blog, but since it’s so quick, we decided to do it again–this time with more photos. Ginger and scallion are a very common pairing in Chinese cooking and there are many versions of seafood cooked in this style. This scallion ginger shrimp stir fry is quite easy to make and it’s much easier to prepare shrimp so it’s a much more approachable dish to cook at home. That said, we also have made Scallion Ginger Lobster, twin lobsters just like you get at a Chinese banquet and also Scallion Ginger Cantonese Crab which you must consider for the upcoming blue crab season!
Scallion Ginger Shrimp: Recipe Instructions
Defrost your shrimp and give them a quick rinse, checking them for any veins that still remain. Shrimp right out of of the grocery freezer bags are generally nicely cleaned, but sometimes they do miss a few here and there. Shrimp defrost pretty quickly and you can always use some warm water to rinse them and move the process along. After they are defrosted and clean, place them into a colander to drain well. I would recommend you let the shrimp get to room temperature and pat them dry with a paper towel so you don’t get a small flood of liquid in the wok, which will cool it down too much and mess up the dish. High heat is crucial.
Next, wash your scallions and ginger, and shake them dry. Cut the scallions into 2 1/2 inch pieces and slice the ginger to about 1/8 inch thickness. Heat the oil in your wok over medium heat and spread the ginger across the wok. Let it fry in the oil for about 20 seconds to infuse the oil with that great flavor and immediately crank up the flame to the highest setting. We always start with the ginger since it does not burn easily.
Next, add the scallion ends and meatier middle parts of the scallion. The wok should hopefully be screaming hot by now. If it’s not screaming hot, a good trick is to remove the stuff from the pan first, really get it smoking, and then add the ingredients back in.
Add the shrimp to the ginger and scallion mixture and give it a quick toss. Let the shrimp sear for 20 seconds and add the Shaoxing Wine, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, and a pinch of sugar.
Now add the rest of the scallions to the wok and stir fry until the shrimp is cooked through – about a minute.
If you like, now is the time to add that splash of soy sauce. Give it a final toss.
Plate it up and serve this scallion ginger shrimp hot with steamed rice!
