Whenever I’m looking to make a fast and easy dinner I turn to seafood. It cooks up in a flash and takes on flavours well. Shrimp is one of my go-to seafoods, if only because I usually have frozen shrimp in the fridge. It’s a habit that probably comes from my mom – she often stocks up onbig boxes of frozen shrimp when they’re on sale. Now, that I have my own freezer, I find myself doing the same. Of course,sometimes my mom stocks up on shrimp for me too – thanks mom!
These spicy salt and pepper shrimp are perfect for demonstrating that you don’t need a lot of ingredients to get a lot of flavour. Like most Chinese stir-fry, you’ve got your usual suspects: garlic, salt and two kinds of pepper. If you don’t have white pepper, don’t worry about it, but a lot of Chinese food uses white pepper as a flavouring and it’s fairly distinctive tasting: sharper, yet more delicate at the same time. I added in some diced jalapeños for a bit of spice and finished it off with some sliced green onions. These guys, a big bowl of fluffy white rice, some simple greens, and I’m a happy camper!
Crispy Salt and Pepper Shrimp Recipe
serves 2
- 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, diced, seeds removed if desired
- 1-2 stalks green onion, sliced
- grain of choice, to serve
Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. In bowl, toss the shrimp, cornstarch, white & black pepper and salt together. Heat up a bit of oil in a heavy bottomed skilled over medium heat. Add the garlic, 1/2 of thejalapeñosand 1/2 of the green onions. Cook, stirring, until crisp and fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the coated shrimp and cook, until pink and firm, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and toss with the remaining jalapeños and green onions. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary and enjoy hot with your grain of choice. I usually serve this with lots of fluffy white rice and a simple stir-fried vegetable dish.
40 Comments
November 11, 2014 at 12:18 am
oh, yum! it’s incredible how flavourful a simple stir-fry can be– I was in a hurry and found myself sautéeing whatever I had in the fridge, and it was so, so, good. Reminds me that cooking doesn’t have to be complicated at all.
your shrimp is stunning, makes me want to eat it right off the screen.
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Sune Moolman says:
November 11, 2014 at 1:33 am
I’m such a sucker for shrimp – and these look fantastic! I’m afraid it would be a waste for me to cook rice… these shrimp would have magically disappeared by the time the rice is cooked! :P
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November 11, 2014 at 1:52 am
Look amazing! Makes me sad fresh prawns are so expensive here!
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[emailprotected] says:
November 11, 2014 at 2:43 am
So gorgeous! I want to make these right now!
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November 11, 2014 at 3:46 am
One of freeze staples is frozen shrimp. I would normally use it to make deep fried corm meal covered shrimp as a quick meal with mayo but I could definitely get a healthier version for noodles! Mouthwatering!
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Kristin @ Tasty Joy says:
November 11, 2014 at 4:27 am
This looks scrumptious; I bet a dash of crushed chile flakes would be nice! I love the simplicity, and I agree with Myriam above; I would likely eat them all before rice had time to cook :-)
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jenna @ just j.faye says:
November 11, 2014 at 5:10 am
This looks delicious! I have shrimp in my freezer right now!
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Matt Robinson says:
November 11, 2014 at 8:42 am
I love the flavors and simplicity going on here. The perfect, healthy weeknight meal.
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Lily says:
November 11, 2014 at 11:39 am
HI, the instructions for the recipe says to toss the garlic with the shrimp and then a little further into the text, the instructions say to add the garlic to the skillet. So, what should we do with the garlic? Thanks!
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steph says:
November 11, 2014 at 12:27 pm
whoops, just fixed that! you add the garlic to the skillet :)
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Kati B ~ FurnishMyWay says:
November 11, 2014 at 12:19 pm
This looks wonderful! Garlic, green onion, and jalapeno are amazing together. So simple–I love it! What part does the cornstarch play here since there is no sauce? Is it just to crisp up the shrimp a bit?
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steph says:
November 11, 2014 at 12:28 pm
that’s exactly it! it helps with a bit of crispness.
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Eileen says:
November 11, 2014 at 12:32 pm
Oh m an, these sound so swift and delicious! I haven’t eaten shrimp in far too long (uh, that means maybe three weeks, so not THAT long, but still).
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Ellie says:
November 11, 2014 at 2:40 pm
These look SO GOOD. I only started liking shrimp recently and now I’m obsessed! A friend at uni who cannot cook to save his life made himself pasta and shrimp and just cooked it all in a pot together. This recipe is already in my bookmarks bar so I can cook for the poor guy and show him how it’s done properly (and why he really really needs to learn to cook for himself)
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See AlsoSweet and Sour Chicken RecipeNovember 11, 2014 at 4:11 pm
Salt and Pepper Shrimp are a favorite in our house and, as usual, I’m at your site drooling. Have you ever tossed in some Szechuan pepper corns? Try it sometime just for a different kind of kick.
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Adam says:
November 12, 2014 at 6:50 am
This is some fast food I can get behind! Love this recipe.
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Carol at Wild Goose Tea says:
November 12, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Shrimp cook sooooo fast and are sooooo good. You could eat them as just the
main dish or have a really wonderful salad too. Yikes I love the idea.Reply
Gordy says:
November 15, 2014 at 7:20 am
Think you could do this with frozen cooked and peeled shrimp but don’t cook as long…just heat through?
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steph says:
November 16, 2014 at 3:30 am
I think it would over cook it too much. You could lightly sauté the garlic, jalapeños and green onions and then toss with the cooked shrimp.
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Aysha says:
November 17, 2014 at 8:17 pm
These look exceptionally good! Discovered your blog recently, and I’m hooked!
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Sharyn at Twinosophy says:
November 19, 2014 at 6:01 pm
Just made this and it was absolutely delicious!
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Brian Joos says:
November 19, 2014 at 6:19 pm
I am eating this recipe for dinner right now, and it’s incredibly good! Have you ever tried it with other shellfish, like scallops or lobster?
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steph says:
November 20, 2014 at 2:26 am
I haven’t, but if you try it out, please let me know how it goes!
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Kat says:
November 22, 2014 at 8:55 am
This is the only way my mom made shrimp when I was growing up. It’s surprising how much flavor you get with just scallions.
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Edlyn says:
December 20, 2014 at 8:42 pm
This looks delicious and I’m sending this recipe straight to my mama. She would love it.
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Andrew Dawson says:
February 9, 2015 at 2:51 pm
Great tasting recipe. However, I thought shrimp was suppose to be cooked at high heat.
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Thuy Nguyen says:
July 9, 2015 at 5:22 pm
I make this about 2-3 times a month! So simple but tastes amazing!
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Sierra says:
July 10, 2015 at 7:23 pm
LOVED IT!!!!! I just ate it by itself because I just couldn’t control myself to heat up some rice or make rice noodles. I love pepper, so I used four thai chilli peppers with the seeds…lol like I said I love pepper. Great recipe and blog in general :)
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Kiley says:
July 30, 2015 at 9:11 am
What kind of oil should I use?
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Stephanie Le says:
July 30, 2015 at 10:35 am
i like using grapeseed or rice bran oil. you can use sunflower or canola as well. basically anything with a high smoke point. even vegetable oil. hope that helps!
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March 7, 2016 at 6:07 am
I absolutely agree with you on this topic. I do the same thing. It’s also a nice difference from meat.
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Georgia Reynaldo says:
March 28, 2016 at 3:31 pm
Add fresh grated ginger, garlic and sesame oil to this recipe! Awesome!
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