Tom Rim
By Andrew Zimmern
I will gladly bang the same drum as I have throughout this book. Great food is all about contrasts. Here it’s sticky sweet/salty, crunchy/soft, sweet/bitter, hot/room temp …it’s what makes this dish so delicious. The fish sauce caramel vibe is based on a variation of a true Vietnamese caramel sauce/technique called thit kho. In that recipe you make a caramel, add lots of sliced shallots, black pepper, and fish sauce, and simmer until syrupy and without sugar lumps. It’s a Viet master sauce, and I love the flavors.
I typically marinate the shrimp before I leave the house, and when I come back from work, I can get dinner on the table in a snap. This is also a good gateway dish for family members who may not know about the glories of fish sauce. It will convert them from the merely curious to the addicted.
Recipe from The Blue Food Cookbook by Andrew Zimmern and Barton Seaver in collaboration with Fed By Blue. Order your copy now!
Vietnamese-Style Caramelized Shrimp
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh shrimp, head-on 4 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
- 2 shallots, very thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
- 3 whole hot dried chiles
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 5 to 6 tablespoons toasted rapeseed oil*
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths
- Cooked rice
Instructions
Cut off the top 3/4 inch of the shrimp heads using scissors (the sharp bony part). Cut off the legs and remove the tail shell by jiggling the tail feathers until they release. Remove the rest of the shell.
Using a sharp knife, lightly score the shrimp along the back side and remove the vein.
Place the shrimp in a bowl and add the garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, sugar, bouillon powder, chiles, and soy sauce and toss to combine. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Heat the oil in a wok set over high heat. When the oil is beginning to smoke, swirl it around and add the shrimp, pouring from the bowl into the wok all at once. DO NOT STIR. Use a rubber spatula to get all the contents of the bowl into the wok and spread the shrimp up the sides of the wok. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until the sugar is caramelized and thickened. Toss the contents of the wok and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the fish sauce and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the scallions and cook for another minute, tossing well. Serve with plenty of hot rice.
* This is also known as caiziyou in Chinese. The toasted flavor makes all the difference. I get mine at themalamarket.com.
