Thursday, July 9, 2015

Spicy Squid and Shrimp Stir-Fry

In my last post, I apologized for all the salads lately. Of course, I blame this on the temporary kitchen. As long as we’re living in our temporary home waiting for our new home to be finished, I’m going to lack interest in spending time in this little kitchen that doesn’t have enough countertop space. I’ve been cooking mostly quick and simple things that don’t require much room to prepare with only a few forays into baking. Below is a photo of the current state of my new kitchen. It’s still very unfinished, but I can’t wait for the day when I can start cooking in it. 

In the meantime, here’s another dish that was simple to prepare and one that came packed with big, spicy flavors. This is from The Slanted Door book by Charles Phan, and this is a book I purchased back around the holidays. I read the book right after purchasing it and marked a lot of pages of things to try. I tried the Crab with Cellophane Noodles for my birthday in March and loved it. I’ve been meaning to try the Vegetarian Spring Rolls and Vegetarian Imperial Rolls, but sadly, they both would be easier to construct with more work space than I currently have. Other recipes marked include Vietnamese Chicken Salad, Spicy Lemongrass Soup, Seared Scallops in Vietnamese Beurre Blanc, Shrimp and Long Beans, Cashew Chicken with gingko nuts and Chinese dates, and the luscious-looking Vietnamese Chocolate Tres Leches Cake. When I get settled in my new kitchen, I plan to spend a couple of days cooking through these pages. For now, I’ll stick to simpler dishes like this stir-fry. 

In the book, it’s made with only squid, but I added shrimp as well. The squid tubes were cut into rings, and the shrimp were cleaned and deveined. I chopped a pineapple into chunks and prepped the bell pepper and jalapeno. The cooking goes very quickly, so everything should be prepped and ready. First, the squid and shrimp were cooked in batches in a hot wok over high heat. Cooking a few pieces at a time ensure the heat in the wok doesn’t drop too much as the seafood is added. Each batch of the squid and shrimp was removed after cooking for a minute or two and set aside. Next, pineapple chunks, bell pepper strips, jalapeno slices, a split serrano chile, and a couple of tablespoons of sake were added to the wok. This mixture was cooked for a couple of minutes before the seafood was returned to the wok. Thai basil leaves and fish sauce were added and stirred to combine. I served the stir-fry with steamed jasmine rice and more Thai basil. 

I’ve mentioned before my love of spicy chiles and sweet fruit with seafood, and I was delighted with it here. With the sliced jalapeno with seeds left in place, this was a dish with definite heat as it was intended. The sweet pineapple balances the heat well. This could easily become part of our regular meal rotation. Spicy stir-fry for Friday dinner works for me in any kitchen. 

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13 comments:

  1. A summery, colourful and flavourful stir-fry!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. It looks like your new home is coming along well. I won't be far behind you as we've just purchased a 150-year old home in derelict condition. I've told my husband I'm not moving in until we at least have a working kitchen xx

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  3. What a colourful and delicious stirfry!

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  4. would you think less of me if i confessed that i have only ever seen squid breaded and fried? i've never encountered it like this, in its more natural state. still doesn't appeal to me...but it's a lovely creation! :)

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  5. Hi Lisa, good luck on your new home, how exciting that you are building your own you can have it exactly the way you want it. I love the simplicity of this dish, looks delicious.

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  6. I love cookbooks that have loads of different recipes I want to try. I've seen more than a few that just didn't have that much to interest me, or duplicated things easily found elsewhere. Anyway, what a terrific dish! Love all the flavor packed into it. Hope you're in your new kitchen soon!

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  7. I’ve never cooked squid at home, but am considering picking some up to try for this recipe! Any tips on how to best prep and cook it?

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  8. I'm also a big fan of the spicy/sweet combo... and this stir-fry looks marvelous! Thanks for sharing, Lisa :)

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  9. That's an amazingly pretty salad, Lisa, as well as full of great flavors. Half the enjoyment would be visual for me...so important. Love squid in a salad. There was a fabulous seafood pasta salad in the first Silver Palate Book served with a sherry mayo that I have served more times than I can count.This is a much lighter (and prettier) seafood salad, can't wait to try it on my daughter when she comes in August. Fun to have fresh pineapple in it too!

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  10. YUM! I’ve never cooked squid at home! It looks fantastic!

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  11. Don't ever apologize for too many salads, especially in the summer. This one looks terrific! Good luck with your kitchen - we had a kitchen reno a few years ago, and it's tough getting by with makeshift appliances.

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  12. Great article with excellent idea! I appreciate your post. Thanks so much and let keep on sharing your stuffs keep it up.

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