Ingredients
1 karen mintzias
1 lb raw medium shrimp
1 salt
1/2 sweet red pepper
8 chives
2 tbsp unsalted roasted peanuts
SAUCE
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp chinese chili sauce
2 garlic cloves finely minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
Directions
ADVANCE PREPARATION: Shell the shrimp, then devein by cutting along
the top of the curve, starting at the tail and making a progressively
deeper cut so the knife nearly cuts through the shrimp at the thick
end. Rinse out the vein. Bring a large amount of lightly salted
water to a rapid boil and add the shrimp. Cook until shrimp are
done, between 1 and 2 minutes. To test, cut a shrimp in half; it
should be white in the center. Transfer the shrimp immediately to a
bowl of ice water to cool. When chilled, drain and refrigerate until
ready to use.
Mince and place in separate containers the red pepper and chives.
Finely chop the peanuts in a food processor and set aside. Combine
the sauce ingredients and mix well.
LAST-MINUTE PREPARATION: Toss the shrimp with the sauce. Put in a
decorative bowl and place the bowl in crushed ice. Sprinkle the
shrimp with the red pepper, chives and peanuts. Serve at once.
Serves: 4 to 8 as an appetizer or 4 as a first course.
Source: Chopstix - by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison ISBN:
1-55670-133-0
Typed for you by Karen Mintzias.
Servings: 4 servings
Chili Shrimp With Basil Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Chili; Fish; Seafood; Shrimp
The History of Recipes
Academics have found proof that recipes existed far back into antiquity, certainly as far into history as the early Egyptians, and potentially, even further back. In practice though, mostly, these ancient cook books were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
Interestingly, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of tablets in Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel blissful. Later on, in Roman times 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote some documents describing recipes cooked by his fellow Romans. He describes how the meals were divided into appetizers, main course and afters, a very modern way of dining. Aspicius informs us how the ancient cooks used many spices and herbs, including some that we all recognise like basil, mint and asafoetida. Closer to modern times, we find a couple of interesting recipe books dating from the fourteenth century - one book called `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, these two books are not about the spicy food that we all know today, but instead recipes for the types of food served to the upper classes of that period. In the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back many spices and herbs from Arab cuisine, including spices like coriander, parsley, and rosemary. The introduction of these new tastes led to a torrent in manuscripts on cookery, the majority of which are kept safe in private collections. Like it or not, the introduction of television gave us cooking programs and the accompanying recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, allowing us all to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Chili Shrimp With Basil recipe.
