Oyster Sauce Mustard Green Shrimp (蠔油芥菜蝦, Hou4 Jau4 Gaai3 Coi3 Haa1)

Mustard greens are slightly bitter and is a great taste combination with the oyster sauce. Shiitake mushrooms are also another ingredient that is often paired with mustard greens. Altogether just the previous mentioned ingredients are a menu item in most Cantonese restaurants. Seafood is added to this dish to make it more luxurious, with the most common being sea cucumber (if you’ve been to a Chinese banquet, you’ll often see this combination). While I plan to make the sea cucumber dish eventually, I used shelled shrimp for this recipe. The shells add flavor to the dish, but need to be removed before eating (unless you’re strange like me and eat the shells). The usual method for eating the shrimp is to suck on the shelled shrimp to extract the flavors, and then remove the shells before eating the shrimp meat. If you’ve never seen this done before at a Chinese restaurant, you’re likely to be surprised the first time you see how this dish is eaten. Try this shelled shrimp eating method and you’re likely to do the same!

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 lb.	500 g.	Prawn or shrimp (蝦, haa1) with the shell on
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Tapioca starch (木薯澱粉, muk6 syu4 din6 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.	Mustard greens (芥菜, gaai3 coi3), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
10	10	Dried whole Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) 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 Flavored 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)
1 Tbs.	15 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

Preparation Instructions

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

1. If using frozen prawn or shrimp, thaw in a covered container overnight in the refrigerator. Submerge the shrimp with water and some ice, and add the baking soda for 30 minutes. Discard the water and wash the baking soda from the shrimp.
2. Marinate the shrimp overnight with the ginger crushed in a garlic press, tapioca 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. Take the shrimp out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Pour boiling water over the dried whole Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid and remove the stems. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process. If you need to rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms quickly, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹).
4. Wash and cut the mustard greens into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
5. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
6. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
7. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored 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 Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer to the bowl with the shrimp.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the mustard greens. Stir fry to brown the mustard greens. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture to the wok, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become 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.
4. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some of the mushroom rehydration liquid 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 Clay Pot or steamed rice.