[Sca-cooks] Fwd: Lunar New Year food photos...

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach ekoogler1 at comcast.net:
>It all looks wonderful.  Could you share the recipe for the shrimp 
>and bacon?  I have a really hard time getting Phillip to eat fish of 
>any description, and that looks like something he might eat.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Kiri

This is a dim-sum-house modern classic, cheater's version:

1 lb bacon, approximately 16 slices
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, coarsely chopped
2 scallions, sliced
1/2 tsp finely  grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup water chestnuts, chopped
1 Tbs cilantro, chopped (optional)
1/4 tsp sugar (optional)
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/8 - 1/4 tsp white pepper, finely ground
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp peanut or neutral vegetable oil

Extra cornstarch for dusting
Oil for deep frying

Mix ingredients, make balls of approximately one ounce, roll in bacon 
(it's okay if you just roll cylinders with exposed ends). Dust with 
cornstarch, deep-fry or pan-fry in 325-degree F oil for about eight 
to ten minutes, or until brown and cooked through.

My lady wife wrapped the ones in the photo, and completely enclosed 
them. We fried some and broiled some. You shouldn't need toothpicks 
to keep them closed, unless you use the ... :

Old-fashioned version:

1/2 recipe above
1 lb large, raw shrimp, peeled to last tail shell joint, split 
partially to devein and flatten [butterfly]

Place a tablespoon or so of the filling on each butterflied shrimp, 
wrap bacon, starting from the wide, top end of the shrimp, to hold 
the stuffing in. You may need to stick a toothpick in to hold the 
bacon and the stuffing in place.

Dust and fry as above, for about eight minutes per inch of thickness.

Vinegary sauces are common for this dish (yes, the Chinese do 
practice humoral medicine), like a plum or other sweet-and-sour 
sauce. a mild chili sauce, or, for some oddly serendipitous reason, a 
lemony mayonnaise.

HTH,

Adamantius