Butterfly Shrimp
chinese, pork, shellfish
12 large shrimp, cleaned, split,
1 dried with paper towels
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)
12 half slices of lean bacon,
1 uncooked
1/2 head of lettuce, shredded
1 and placed in serving dish
1 (optional)
3 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
1/4 cup sherry (optional)
1. The shrimp must be split almost in half, but the two halves should still be attached so that when opened up they look like butterfly wings. Even more important, the shrimp must be split from the underside, or else the natural curl of the shrimp will force the bacon off when fried. 2. Coat each shrimp with beaten egg before putting bacon on the shrimp. The egg mixture is what glues the bacon to the shrimp. 3. Fry with low heat, with the bacon on the bottom. The low heat prevents fast shrinkage of the bacon, and gives the egg coating a chance to bond the bacon and shrimp together. Prepare shrimp as explained above. Beat up eggs with salt added. Place shrimp on platter with split sides up. Brush liberally with egg mix. Place a half slice of bacon on each shrimp. Heat wok or pan hot and dry. Add the oil. Turn heat down immediately to low. Put shrimp in pan bacon side down. Cook slowly until bacon has turned slightly brown and crisp and the egg has bonded. Turn each shrimp over carefully and fry the other side about a minute. Quickly pour in the sherry. Cover and cook 1 minute. Place shrimp on top of lettuce in platter and serve with or without sauce.
Red Sauce I. 1/2 large Bermuda onion, chopped II. 1 tsp. msg 1 tbsp. cornstarch 1/2 cup ketchup 1 dash Tabasco 1 cup chicken broth III. 3 tbsp. vegetable oil 1/8 tsp. salt Mix together all ingredients in Group II and put aside. Heat wok hot and dry. Add the oil. Add the salt. Turn heat to medium. Add the onion and fry until golden yellow. Stir in the Group II mixture until thickened. Dip the shrimp in it.
Curry Sauce Make sauce exactly as above, except substitute 2 tbsp. curry powder in place of the ketchup.
Over the years I have changed this recipe to include only the shrimp (jumbo) eggs, and bacon. I use no sauce and no oil or sherry and everyone seems to like it just as well.
Yield: 1 servings