Jade Shrimp

This recipe is adapted from a recipe originally developed by the Wong Brothers many years ago for their restaurant, Trey Yuen, which was located in New Orleans. The recipe uses spinach to create a natural “dye.” The method the chef developed is quite ingenious as it manages to turn the shrimp into a glossy jade color without imparting a heavy spinach flavor to the shrimp. It takes a bit of work but it’s not difficult and the results are spectacular.


Ingredients:

1 pound medium shrimp, tail on, peeled, deveined, and butterflied
1 and 1/2 pounds fresh spinach leaves, stems removed
1 tablespoon fresh red bell pepper, finely diced as a garnish
3 tablespoons peanut oil for stir frying
2 cups steamed white rice


For the sauce:

1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon rice wine (substitute: dry sherry)
6 green onions, white part only, cut on the bias into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste



For the velvet mixture:

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 egg white
1 teaspoon peanut oil
Dash of salt and white pepper


Preparation:


1. Place a clean cloth towel on a rimmed sheet pan. Arrange the butterflied shrimp in rows on the towel. Cover the shrimp with another clean cloth towel then place another sheet pan on top. This is important as it helps the butterflied shrimp to keep their shape. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

2. While the shrimp are chilling, prepare the “jade” mixture. Process the spinach leaves by feeding them through the feed tube of your food processor with the machine locked on at its highest setting. When the spinach is completely pureed, pour the puree into a tightly woven cloth towel over a clean bowl. Terry cloth doesn’t work very well for this as it is too absorbent. Wring the towel to extract as much spinach juice as possible. Reserve the juice. Save the spinach for another dish. For this dish we just want to use the spinach juice to “dye” the shrimp to put the “jade” in the recipe.

3. Place the spinach juice in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Foam will form on the top of the mixture as it boils. Skim off the foam that floats to the surface and place it in a fine strainer lined with a coffee filter positioned over a bowl.

4. Remove the shrimp from the refrigerator and place them in a mixing bowl. When most of the liquid has drained out of the foam, add the foam to the shrimp and toss to coat everything evenly in the green foam. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes to jade the shrimp.

5. In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the velvet ingredients and pour it over the jaded shrimp. Gently toss everything together to ensure that the shrimp are evenly coated. Cover the bowl again and place the coated shrimp back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

6. Place the shrimp in a strainer over a bowl and allow any excess velvet mixture to drain off while you pre-heat your wok over medium-high heat (a heavy high sided skillet will work too). Add 1 tablespoons peanut oil to the hot wok. Add the shrimp to the wok and stir fry in the hot oil for 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the wok and set aside in a covered dish.

7. Add the remaining tablespoon of peanut oil to the wok and let it come back up to temperature. Add the garlic, ginger, rice wine, green onions, chicken stock, sesame seed oil, sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and a dash of white pepper. Stir until the mixture comes to a fast simmer, whisk in the cornstarch mixture and allow everything to simmer for 1 minute stirring constantly. Add the shrimp to the sauce and toss to coat everything in the sauce.

8. Transfer everything to a serving platter with a bed of steamed white rice. Garnish with the bell pepper and serve immediately.