Kitchen Chronicles : Shrimp in Oyster Sauce

Sunday, December 23, 2012

I'm not an expert when it comes to the art of cooking but I quite know my way around the kitchen because our Mom raised us well, made sure that we knew how to cook if in any case we happen to suffer a Zombie Apocalypse or be alive to witness the "end of the world". Some weeks ago when the lover was sick, I cooked Shrimp for his brother and sister-in-law for they were coming over to pick him up. I can't say this dish is my specialty but I can say that I've mastered the art of cooking it thus I never go wrong with it. It's quite simple and I'll be giving you instructions on how to cook it, again, no measurements because I don't measure ingredients when I cook.
Ingredients : 
  • Sugar - because I like a hint of sweetness when I eat shrimp. It neutralizes the taste when I eat it this dish with tomatoes and fish sauce. This is optional.
  • Shrimp - the main ingredient of course. I don't really know how to check if they're fresh but we make it a point to buy ours alive.
  • Garlic - I use a clove or two depending on the amount of Shrimp. The more garlic you have, the tastier your dish gets.
  • Ginger - to remove the fishy stink/taste of the Shrimp. This is optional too, but I highly recommend you include it.
  • Oyster Sauce - Mama Sita's is a brand I've been using since I learned how to cook this.
  • Ketchup - tomato-based ones are preferred than banana.
Procedure : 
1. Saute the garlic and ginger in butter and wait for it to brown a little. I don't like my ginger and garlic getting toasted so a light brown color is fine with me. I used 1/2 butter for a kilo of shrimp.


2. After waiting for the garlic and ginger to brown, you can add the shrimp. You'll know it's cooked when the shell starts to turn orange. Make sure you don't overcook it because they get rubbery.


3. Observe if most of the shrimp's shells turns orange, if so, you can add the Oyster sauce. Again, I can't really tell how much you have to put in. As shown in this photo, I just made sure I covered most of the shrimps but also made sure not to drown them in Oyster sauce.


4. After tossing the shrimps in Oyster Sauce, you're now ready to put the ketchup! It also adds a bit of sweetness to the dish so the amount depends on how sweet you want your dish to be.


5. Bring the shrimp to a boil for around 3 mins and you're all set! Serve it with hot rice because rice is the best thing ever.

A kilo of shrimp of good for 3-4 people, you can also serve it with tomatoes on the side. But, if you're addicted to shrimp as much as I am, this dish will be good for your lonesome. Chili is optional but it's also a game changer! 

Feel free to ask me anything if my instructions were a bit vague! I'm not really good with measurements and all so forgive me. This dish is actually included in our Christmas menu, I'll check and see if I'm actually following any measurements so I can be more detailed with this recipe (but I'm pretty sure I'm not!). 2 days to go before Christmas, I'm excited! Happy holidays!

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