“Dry-Cooked” Shrimp w/ Sticky Rice & Vegetable Medley (Serves 6)

We cooked a very impromptu dinner last night. At about 5pm my son suggested we go visit our friend Tom for an hour before dinner. My husband was helping him sort through thousands of books (not an exaggeration) and figure out what he wanted to keep, give away and sell (I think some burning went on also – only the moldy ones – anything else would be a sin!).

It has been raining off and on for the past 3 weeks but, it turned Tom’s into a lush, heavenly scented place. (If you want to know more about his magical house and where it sits, type Mother’s Day in the search box to the right of my blog). We kidnapped our neighbor’s dog to give him a chance to run around with Tom’s dog.

We were a mad band with dogs and children running wild, burning books, Tom and I following after, wondering if it was too early to open a bottle of wine, and my husband missing, but, eventually found by the pond trying to catch a pike for our dinner – I know, a pike?  However, we were assured by Tom that it is delicious. I have been trying new things lately and liking them, so, I will hold judgment until my first bite!

Of course we couldn’t possibly leave before dinner and as we stood in the kitchen opening wine Tom puzzled about what the five of us could eat? He perked up when he remembered he had about 30 large frozen shrimp and a big bag of rice. I said if he cooked the rice I would pull together some sort of vegetable medley to toss it into. I asked for an onion, “no,” some celery perhaps, “no,” He said the pickings were very slim so I started rooting around in his fridge and found a couple of carrots, after which Tom managed to find a bunch of asparagus, a head of romaine lettuce, garlic and a handful of cherry tomatoes.

the shrimp were "dry-cooked" and it is an awesome way to cook them; you have got to try it!

I just love when dinner comes together like that. Finding the scraps from the fridge and pantry can produce some of the most memorable dinners. Tom worked away on the delicious shrimp and I was content to fry vegetables.

The dregs of everything left in the pantry and fridge made this wonderful dinner!

We enjoyed a wonderful meal and, looking back on the day I marvel at how great my life is when I make the effort. All it took was my man, kids, a couple of mad dogs and, a pair of industrious friends who wanted to cook together

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For the Rice & Vegetable Medley; You will Need: 3 cups short grain sushi style rice, 1 bunch asparagus, washed and chopped into thick slices, 2 carrots, sliced, 3 cloves garlic, chopped, 1 cup torn basil leaves, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, left whole, 1 head romaine lettuce, washed and roughly torn, 2 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coarse sea salt (more to taste), freshly ground black pepper, 3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil.

Veggies prepped and ready to go..

1 – cook rice according to instructions and set aside. Prep all vegetables as instructed above.

Tom lets his romaine lettuce "drip dry" in a glass - good idea!

2 – Put a wok or a big heavy saute pan on medium heat and add olive oil. Add garlic to pan and cook for 30 seconds before adding the carrots and asparagus. Continue to cook for 7 or so minutes. Add cumin and salt and some freshly ground black pepper and stir.

3 – Next add the basil leaves, romaine, and cherry tomatoes. Cover and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes (until lettuce has softened and wilted)

stir-fry veggies..

4 – Add rice and stir everything together. Turn off pan and keep covered until ready to serve. Taste for further season.

rice w/ vegetable medley ready..

For the Shrimp dish; You will need: 30 or so large shrimp, washed and left in shell, 2 tsp sea salt (Tom had a lovely grey french sea-salt), 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes/ chili flakes, or, some other spicy seasoning.

1 – Place shrimp on a paper plate (see below) in single layer (will need to cook in about 2 batches) and season with salt and hot chili pepper. Place pan (same bottom surface size as paper plate) on high heat and with care quickly flip the paper plate of shrimp onto the dry hot pan and leave plate on top. Cook for 2 minutes like this and then carefully flip upside-down placing the shrimp back on plate. Flip onto a clean paper plate and repeat in the pan on the other side (sounds complicated, but it’s not!)

season shrimp..

Leave the shrimp in the shell and let cool for a minute or two before serving.

Lovely dry-cooked shrimp - packed with flavor.

Serve on warmed plates, dividing rice, and giving each person about 5 large shrimp. Pass sour cream and hot sauce if you have it!

"Dry-Cooked" Shrimp with Sticky Rice & Vegetable Medley

“dry-cooked” Shrimp with Numb Numb Spice! (serves 4 as appetizer)

I have never seen shrimp cooked this way. It was really interesting and the results were fantastic. It was supposed to be a topping for our pizza on Rustic Pizza Night but we ended up eating it before it got to the Pizza paddle.  So…I think it has now become an appetizer!

Numb Numb spice..

OK – so what is Numb Numb spice??? Very interesting question….. my friend did two things with this recipe. I have already said I have never seen shrimp cooked this way but I have also never heard of this spice. From what I can gather, he was in a restaurant in China (1 think??) and ordered lobster. He was so impressed with the flavor and, being a curios man asked the chef how it was prepared?

The chef told him he dry-cooked it on a pan with some seasoning and, when my friend got home he thought he could do the same with other shelled creatures!

Numb Numb Shrimp in lightening speed!

The spice he used last night is a spice that is used in the Sichuan province of China, and it numbs the inside of the mouth in preparation for hotter food to come later in the meal. Needless to say I was wary of a spice with the word numbing attached to it but I must say it had lovely heat and paired nicely with the sweet flavor of the shrimp.

You have to try this – you may not have Numb Numb spice but any spice will do (pepper flakes, cayenne powder or something else more easily procured!).

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You will need: 1 lb shrimp, shell on (31-40 count per lb), deveined & cut lengthways in two with shell on,  1 1/2 tsp hot spice.

1 –  Put on a paper plate flesh side down and season shells with spice.

Put paper plate on top of shrimp while cooking..

2 – Put saute pan on  (9″) on high heat. When the dry pan is very hot,  put the shrimp on the  pan flesh side down. Cover completely with the paper plate.  After 1 1/2 minutes hold top of plate and flip pan so all the shrimp are transferred to the plate.

now flip and cook on other side for 1 1/2 minutes..

3 – Return pan to heat and Immediately transfer shrimp to pan, shell side down, and cover with a paper plate and let cook for another  1 1/2 minutes. Flip back onto plate, and you are done.

Let the shrimp sit for a minute before serving.  Eat right from shell. They are also great cold.

I couldn’t believe how great the meat tasted – intensely sweet and spicy. This might seem complicated but it couldn’t be easier. The whole thing takes about 7 minutes!