Honey Walnut Prawns - 核桃蝦

The first time I had walnut shrimp was when I went to visit my friends the Nielsons in 1995 or 1999 while they still lived in the Bay area. We went to a Chinese restaurant together and the food was so good. I ordered it in several restaurants in the Salt Lake area but it was never nearly as good. Finally I decided to do my research on the internet and see if I can come up with something better to serve in one of our annual Chinese New Year dinner. I eventually bought a deep fryer just for this dish because it works great for the walnuts and the shrimp. I also have some fond memories of helping my mother making candied walnuts in her little kitchen in Taipei. I don't remember what she was using the candied walnuts for but I sure remembered that they were yummy. I think I used to help her in the kitchen not because I was a helpful person but it was a great way to do some food sampling. The walnuts does take some time so I usually make it a couple of days in advance. The last time I made a batch of the candied walnuts, I had to hide them from my family or else they would be all gone before I get around to make the shimp.

Shrimp:

1 lb of large or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
a dash of salt
1/4 cup corn starch
1 egg white
1 cup oil

Sauce:
2 Tbs honey
3 Tbs mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of fresh lime juice
1 Tbs condensed milk

Preparation:
Shrimp:
Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to from a think sticky texture and mix well with shrimp with a dash of salt. Set aside.
Sauce:
Mix honey, mayonnaise, lemon juice, lime juice, and condensed milk in a bowl until smooth.

Heat the oil in wok until hot and deep fry the shrimp until golden; drain the oil and fold in the honey mayonnaise mixture into shrimp. Mix well, sprinkle with candied walnuts and arrange on platter. Usually the shrimp is served over lightly stir fried or steamed vegetables like broccoli or Napa cabbage.

Candied Walnuts
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cups water
1/8 cup sugar, use 1/4 or 1/3 cup if you like more sugary walnuts
2 cups oil

Rinse walnuts; boil in 2 cups of water and continually changing water until water is clear. Drain water from walnuts and boil with sugar until sugar dissolved. Heat 2 cups of oil until almost smoking and deep fry walnuts until they are shiny and brown, no longer tan/golden; about 3 minutes. Place walnuts on cookie sheet, let cool.

The Vegetarian Burger

This is a recipe from my friend Lynell. It dated back to 1990's. We used to have it quite often until Kimberly protested very loudly that she had enough of "vegetarian" meals, "fake" cheese, "pretend" burgers, or anything that had the "organic" wording on the package. We were never vegetarians, but were trying to eat meat sparingly. Back then Cassidy was allergic to milk and soy, so for a few years we did not eat anything that had milk, soy, nor anything that had milk product in it. That was a pretty tough thing to do ten or twelve years ago since there were not as many alternative products out there and organic food was not as common. Maybe that was why Kimberly hated the restriction so much. I have been thinking about this recipe lately because Roland and I actually like the vege-burger a lot. I just make a batch today and am excited to let Kimberly try it again now that her taste buds are more interested in healthy food.

Ingredients:
2 eggs or 1/2 C soaked garbanzo beans blended well with 1/2 C water
1 C rolled oats, uncooked; I like to blend 2/3 of rolled oats for a few seconds in a blender, this helps the mixture to stick together better.
1 C finely chopped walnuts or use 1/2 cup chopped sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup walnuts
1 medium onion minced; I like it lightly sautéed
4 table spoon of milk; or rice milk
1/2 tea spoon of salt
1 tea spoon of sage (powder)
1 table spoon of soy sauce; I use 1 1/2 table spoon of soy sauce

Lynelle like the mixture thin so she can pour it onto a electric grill like pancake batter. I like the mixture thicker and I form it into patties and pan fry with a little olive oil until it's golden brown. It makes about 8 vege-burger patties.