Ingredients
1 lb (medium) fresh shrimp
1 tbsp vodka
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup water, cold
2 cup oil, for deep-frying
6 tbsp salt, coarse
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp szechuan peppercorns
Directions
Carefully remove the shells from the shrimp, leaving the tail sections
intact. Devein and wash under cold running water; pat dry with paper
towels. In a dish or bowl, marinate briefly in a mixture of the
vodka, salt, and pepper while you make the batter.
In a mixing, put the flour and baking powder; gradually add the cold
water, whisking until smooth.
In a wok, heat the 2 cup of oil until it reaches 350 degrees F. Add 1
tablespoon of the hot oil to the batter and stir to combine. Take a
shrimp by the tail and dip it into the batter (do not dip the tail),
then slide it into the hot oil. Deep-fry all the shrimp, a few at a
time, until golden brown. This should take about 2 minutes for each
batch. Drain on paper towels, and serve tails up, in a serving dish,
with the salt/pepper mixture for dipping. Makes 8 to 10 appetizer
servings.
FOR DIPPING: In a bowl, combine coarse salt and the peppercorns. In
a dry frying pan over high heat, brown the salt/pepper mixture. When
browned remove and run the mixture through a grinder.
Recipe: "Chinese Appetizers" by Verdi
Published by Irene Chalmers Cookbooks, 1981
Servings: 4 servings
Phoenix-Tailed Shrimp Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Fish; Seafood; Shrimp
The History of Recipes
Recipes as a concept can be observed back into distant history, at least as far back into history as ancient Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that is, generally, these old records were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing food.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to food historians is a collection of clay tablets in ancient 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 having made drinkers feel `wonderful`. As we move into Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius created some scripts showing how to cook the recipes prepared by wealthy roman citizens. He recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and afters, a style of dining still practiced today. This early Roman chef recounts how the ancient Romans made use of many aromatic flavours, including some familiar names such as bay, fennel and parsley. Moving on, we find a couple of books which were published in the 14th Century : a book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these are unconnected to the curry that is popular today, but rather descriptions of the types of food on the menus of the rich people of the period. Later, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought back many new foods and spices from Arab countries, such as basil and rosemary. These new foods and tastes prompted an eruption in manuscripts on cooking, many of which still exist in academic collections. The revolution that is television gave us celebrity TV chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everyone to search through massive numbers of recipes like the ones you can find on our site. |
We hope you enjoy this Phoenix Tailed Shrimp recipe.
