Stir-Fried Crystal Shrimp and Stir-Fried Garlic Shanghai Bok Choy | Wok Wednesdays

For this Wok Wednesday's post, I'm posting both of February's recipes today. First, the Stir-Fried Crystal Shrimp, and then the Stir-Fried Garlic Shanghai Bok Choy.


Stir-Fried Crystal Shrimp gets its name from repeated salting and rinsing. It is said to give the shrimp a firm texture that is almost "crystal-like." After the shrimp is washed in the salt, it is "velveted," which involves marinating the shrimp in egg white and a bit of cornstarch for about an hour, and then blanching it in water before stir frying. It gives the the shrimp a wonderful texture.

The sauce for this dish is very simple too, just chicken broth, Shao Hsing rice wine, more cornstarch, and ground white pepper. The only other ingredients are ginger, peas, and scallions.

The stir-fry, once you are all prepped and your shrimp has been blanched, takes about two and a half minutes. During the last minute of stir-frying, the sauce thickens and coats the shrimp and vegetables in deliciousness.

The shrimp is a perfect dinner for two with rice.... or if you are on a no carb kick (which will unlikely be me), this Stir-Fried Garlic Shanghai Bok Choy is an amazing accompaniment for dinner for two.

Shanghai Bok Choy? You probably know it as Baby Bok Choy. This stir fry is so incredibly easy and flavorful, and is so good as a side dish to any protein.

All you need are three heads of baby bok choy, some chicken broth, Shao Hsing rice wine, soy sauce, and corn starch, plus some smashed garlic, salt, and sugar. The stir fry takes about 2 minutes max.

To make it, cut the bok choy into pieces, mix the broth, wine, and soy sauce, and corn starch. Heat the garlic in the wok, add the bok choy, sprinkle it with the salt and sugar, stir fry for a minute, and then swirl in the sauce. Stir for about a minute, and you have an amazing vegetable side dish, and not just for an Asian dinner.

This bok choy is so tasty, and it gives you all of the nutrition of a green leafy vegetable as well as celery! Plus, I'm pretty sure it's sort of related to cabbage.

If you'd like to learn more about Wok Wednesdays, visit our Facebook page. We are stir frying our way through Grace Young's book, Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge, published in 2010. To see the recipe schedule, check out the Wok Wednesday's page.

You can find the recipe for the shrimp Here.

The recipe for the shrimp can also be found on page 160 and the bok choy can be free-style wokked as described above, or better yet, found on page 220 of Grace Young's amazing book, Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge, a James Beard Award winning cookbook.