Oyster Sauce Shrimp with Japanese Chilies (蠔油日本指天椒蝦, Hou4 Jau4 Jat6 Bun2 Zi2 Tin1 Ziu1 Haa1)

The combination of the dried red Japanese chilies, together with the sweetness of the shrimp and oyster sauce, makes a great flavor combination. The new ingredient that I tried in this dish was purchased at my local Mexican market: dried red Japanese chili peppers, which are similar to the more common Chile de árbol peppers (which have more heat to them). The dried red Japanese chili peppers aren’t mind numbing hot like the dried red chilies that you can purchase at your local Asian market. While there is some heat, the chilies are more flavorful than hot.

I recently went to a local Chinese restaurant, whose specialties are dishes cooked with chilies (lots of chilies!). What was interesting about one dish was that there were handfuls of these red chili peppers in the dish, but you tasted the underlying flavor of the chili more than any heat. The dish was very spicy without being hot. So I thought about how to get these chilies, and I knew that they weren’t available at my local Asian market. I realized that these chilies are available in bulk at my local Mexican market. I bought a good amount and tried using dried red Japanese chilies in this dish and got the result I was hoping for.
 

The translation of the Japanese chili peppers to Chinese characters is probably not correct. I appended “Japan” to “dried red chili peppers”, so I would appreciate if someone could tell me what the correct translation should be.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

 

¾ lb.	375 g.	Prawn or shrimp meat (蝦仁, haa1 jan4)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 lb.	500 g.	Snow peas (荷蘭豆, ho4 laan4 dau6)
6-12	6-12	Dried red Japanese chili peppers (日本指天椒, jat6 bun2 zi2 tin1 ziu1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces; to taste
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces on the diagonal
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Lee Kum Kee Brand
Premium Oyster Sauce
(蠔油, hou4 jau4)

Preparation Instructions

1. If using frozen prawn or shrimp, thaw in a covered container overnight in the refrigerator. Take the shrimp out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Shell and devein the shrimp, and marinate for at least one hour with the ginger crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In the USA, the names prawn and shrimp are used interchangeably, with prawn usually meaning a large shrimp; either will work in this dish.
2. Wash and remove the string from the snow peas by grasping each snow pea in one hand and pulling the tip the length of the snow pea with the other.
3. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
4. Remove any stems from the dried red Japanese chili peppers and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. The amount of red chili peppers to use in this dish depends upon personal taste and is optional, so feel free to reduce or increase the amount.
5. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 cm.) pieces.
6. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the shrimp to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and stir fry until the shrimp just turn pink. The shrimp should look undercooked. You may have to cook the shrimp in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the dried red Japanese Chili peppers. Quickly stir fry to brown them before adding the snow peas. Stir fry the snow peas to brown them. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic mixture becomes fragrant. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the shrimp back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
3. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some liquid (stock or water) to the wok. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.