Soy-Glazed Shrimps

Hello friends,

This weekend was Chinese New Year and, as you know, I’m a big fan of Asian cuisine! On this occasion, it only made sense to share a fitting recipe with you!

So here are my soy-glazed shrimps.

Find all my Asian recipes here before diving into Chinese New Year…

The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar marks Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year. The date changes each year but always falls between January 21 and February 19. This year, Chinese New Year is celebrated on February 10, 2024, and it will be the Year of the Dragon.

While Lunar New Year is one of the most important events in Chinese tradition, it is also celebrated in other Asian countries—namely South Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. So it’s not just “Chinese” New Year, as is often said. In China, although the Lunar New Year does indeed occur in winter, it is called the “Spring Festival”! In fact, in 1912, when the newly formed Republic of China officially adopted the Gregorian calendar, its leaders renamed Lunar New Year the “Spring Festival,” a name still in use today.

Festivities in the making

Preparations for Chinese New Year begin several days in advance and start with decorating the house. Outside, windows are adorned with paper cuttings, and red paper scrolls are pasted above and beside the main door as symbols of happiness and prosperity. On the door, the Chinese character “fu,” meaning “luck/happiness/prosperity,” is displayed to express wishes for a peaceful year.

A festival at the heart of Chinese tradition

This event is also an opportunity for Chinese people to do a thorough cleaning of their home and clothing, and to buy gifts for their loved ones. On New Year’s Eve, there is a ceremony honoring ancestors and a dinner that gathers the entire family. The menu varies by region—dumplings in the north and sticky rice cake in the south—but it’s always a time for families to reunite, with some traveling hundreds of kilometers back to their hometown for the celebrations. (Source: Géo)

This celebration is the most important of the year in China, when families gather, and train stations, airports, and bus terminals become packed! A bit like our famous July–August vacation shuffle! 😉

Back to our soy-glazed shrimps

Now that we’re pros on Chinese New Year, let’s get back to our shrimps!

This recipe is very simple, quick to make, and absolutely delicious. It’s also a healthy, gluten-free dish. Always good to have a recipe like this one, right?

We’ll prepare the shrimp with soy sauce, cook a spinach curry on the side, and simply boil some rice noodles. And just like that, our soy-glazed shrimp are ready to serve. As for the shrimp, you can use cooked shrimp (frozen or not), or raw shrimp. Raw will be tastier and more tender. I used frozen shrimp here because it’s all I had on hand, and it was still delicious! Just make sure to thaw them well and pat them dry with paper towels to avoid water in the pan.

My tip to enhance your soy-glazed shrimps

When it comes to noodles, rice noodles are perfect for this dish. However, I know they can be hard to find. You can also use Chinese wheat noodles or simply tagliatelle. It’s up to you!

You might have noticed that I love to add a bit of spinach curry. The combo is amazing!

The tools you’ll need:

A sauté pan for the spinach,

A frying pan (preferably steel, like my De Buyer Mineral B) for cooking the shrimp,

A large pot,

A wooden spatula,

A grater,

A cutting board,

And a good paring knife.

There you go, you know everything! Let’s tie on the apron and get cooking with my soy-glazed shrimp recipe!

The recipe, Chef!

Print Recipe

Soy-Glazed Shrimps

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dinner – Asian

Serves: 3 Difficulty: Easy Price: $$

Prep Time: 10 min – Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients

• Shrimp
• 270 g of shrimp (raw or cooked)
• 10 g of butter
• 20 cl of salted soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
• Curry
• 200 g of fresh spinach
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cm of fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• 20 cl of coconut milk
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 teaspoon of curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
• Mild chili
• Paprika
• Noodles
• 200 g of rice noodles

Instructions

Curry

1

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the sauté pan and add the sliced onion.

2

Next, add the curry powder, grated garlic, and grated ginger.

3

Let it brown for 2 minutes, then add a small glass of water. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

4

Then add the spinach, coconut milk, and the remaining spices (quantities to taste), salt, and pepper.

5

Simmer for 10 minutes on low heat with the lid on.

Shrimp

6

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat and sauté the shrimp until golden.

7

Deglaze with the soy sauce and maple syrup. Make sure the shrimp are well coated with the sauce.

Noodles

8

Cook the noodles in boiling water according to the package instructions.

9

Place the noodles on your plates, add the spinach curry and the shrimp.

10

You can sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped chives.

11

Serve!