China · Chinese

Stir-fried shrimp

One of the two stir-fries. The shrimp are rubbed with salt to remove the surface slime and then dried completely, beaten with egg white, pepper and salt until sticky, given a thin starch slurry and chilled for two hours; they are then slipped into oil at 40% heat just until jade-coloured, lifted out, and returned to a thin sauce built in the same wok, tossed and finished with hot oil. The point of a clear-fried shrimp is **no soy sauce**: the shrimp are savoury enough, and colouring them only hides it. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.

55 minutes · 4 servings · Moderate

Stir-fried shrimp

Public reference · Home adaptation The two characters 'clear-fried' are the whole specification: no soy for colour, nothing to shout over the ingredient, just correct oil temperature and a fast hand. The shrimp go into 40% oil just until jade-coloured and come straight out; every further second ages them, which is why the cook keeps a second pan hot and drops them back the instant the heat drops. This is the Huaiyang 'natural flavour' approach in a hot dish: when the ingredient is good you do not bury it. The egg white is there for colour as much as texture. The source's own tip says it plainly: without egg white the shrimp do not look right. It forms a translucent film that makes them plump and glossy when heated, and that is what holds up at a banquet table. The 2018 group-standard report lists the stir-fries by name only, so **this technique comes from a public home recipe with no correspondence to the banquet's own kitchen method**; it is not a historical original. **The seat list records only the dish name, not the method; this version's technique comes from the public home recipe Professional-style stir-fried shrimp on xiachufang and has no correspondence to the actual three-head-banquet kitchen method.** It is not a historical original or a house secret. That source is a quick household version; a Huaiyang banquet demands more oil, tighter heat control and proper plating, so **this version keeps its sequence while stating it as a home adaptation.** The source quantities (500 g shrimp, 3 spoons starch, 2 spoons wine, the white of 1 egg) are converted here to grams and millilitres for 4 servings; **the weights and times are editorial and have not been kitchen-tested.** The two-hour chill is preparatory and **is not counted in the cooking time.** **Shrimp is a common shellfish allergen** and must be declared on the banquet sheet, with separate utensils from shellfish-free dishes. Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. **Contains shellfish (shrimp, a common allergen),** egg (egg white) and wheat (cooking wine). If lard is used this counts as a meat dish under this project's convention; for a vegetarian service use a vegetable oil and check that the wine-based seasonings contain no animal-derived ingredients. Shrimp is among the more highly allergenic foods and must be declared on the banquet sheet and on dish labels; shellfish must be prepared on boards, knives and containers kept separate from shellfish-free dishes. Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. 下厨房：专业版的清炒虾仁 — The method and quantities: 500 g shrimp, 3 spoons starch, a little pepper, 2 spoons cooking wine, salt to taste, the white of 1 egg. Steps: thaw the packaged shrimp under running water; add a little fine salt and rub off the surface slime by hand, rinse clean and dry completely with a cloth or kitchen paper; add egg white, a little pepper and salt and beat until sticky, then add MSG and dry starch and beat until the shrimp are coated in a translucent film; refrigerate 2 hours; heat clear oil in the wok to 40% heat, slip the shrimp apart until jade-coloured, lift out and drain; pour the used oil out of the pan, add 2 spoons wine, stock, salt and a little MSG, boil and thicken with a starch slurry, return the shrimp, toss and finish with hot oil. Tips: dry the shrimp thoroughly after washing; egg white is needed or the colour is poor; use only a little stock or water at the end, or more starch is needed and the dish goes pasty and looks bad. https://m.xiachufang.com/recipe/103674494/ 扬州晚报美食团：扬州发布“三头宴”团体标准（搜狐，2018-01-18） — Seat evidence: the two stir-fries are stir-fried shrimp and Huaiyang eel, placed after the bamboo-fungus fish-ball soup and before the abalone with pigeon eggs. The report gives dish names and groupings only, with no methods. https://www.sohu.com/a/217424559_740963 淮扬菜 — 维基百科 — Cuisine context: Huaiyang cooking belongs to the Jiangsu school; the entry notes it turns humble ingredients into remarkable dishes and values knife work and natural flavour, supporting the no-soy approach here. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B7%AE%E6%89%AC%E8%8F%9C AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.

Ingredients

  • shrimp, peeled and deveined500 g
  • egg white30 g
  • starch, dry and slurried40 g
  • water for the slurry100 ml
  • yellow rice wine, plus cooking wine20 ml
  • fresh stock, a little only80 ml
  • clear oil or rendered lard300 ml
  • fine salt5 g
  • white pepper powder1 g
  • MSG, optional2 g

Directions

  1. 1

    Once the shrimp have thawed, put them in a bowl with a small pinch of salt and **rub off the surface slime between your fingers**, then rinse repeatedly in clean water until the water runs clear. **This decides whether the dish is clear** — slime left in and the pan turns to paste.

  2. 2

    **Dry the shrimp completely with a cloth or kitchen paper.** If they go into the pan wet they release water, the temperature drops and they will not set into shape. Dry until the surface feels dry to the touch.

  3. 3

    Add the egg white, a little white pepper and salt and beat in one direction until the egg white turns sticky and the shrimp look glossy, then work in the dry starch and **keep beating until every shrimp is coated in a translucent film.** Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours so the film works into the flesh. The chilling is not counted in the cooking time.

  4. 4

    Heat about 300 ml oil to **40% heat** (around 120°C — the surface is calm and small bubbles form around a finger), add the shrimp and **slip them apart** with the spatula, and the moment they have all turned a milky jade colour lift them straight out and drain. From in to out should take no more than 30 seconds.

  5. 5

    Pour the oil out of the pan and **start it again on a little fresh oil.** Add the wine, a little stock, salt and a touch of MSG, bring to the boil and pour in the starch slurry while stirring. **Keep the sauce thin** — use only a very little liquid, because too much forces you to add more starch and the dish turns pasty and gluey, which looks poor at the table.

  6. 6

    Slide the drained shrimp into the sauce and toss to coat each one in a thin glaze, **then turn off the heat after two turns** — keep tossing and the shrimp toughen. Finish with a spoonful of smoking-hot oil poured over to release the aroma and plate at once. Do not pile it thick; spread it so the glossy sauce shows.

Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.