Vietnamese-Style Stir-Fried Sweet Shrimp Recipe

Name: Vietnamese-Style Stir-Fried Sweet Shrimp Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 23 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 pound unpeeled (uncooked shrimp); 1 tablespoon peanut or other vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 1/2 tablespoons honey or light brown sugar; 2 finely chopped garlic cloves; 1 finely chopped shallot; 1 to 3 finely chopped small hot chiles (such as Thai chiles); 4 tablespoons chicken or fish stock; 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 8 mins

Total: 23 mins

Servings: 4 to 6 servings

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This simple Vietnamese shrimp recipe combines all the yummy flavors of the Southeast Asian part of the world into one package: The shrimp are salty, sweet, savory and spicy all at once. Plus, they are easy to stir-fry and take only a few minutes to cook.

Use decent-sized shrimp for this recipe (no smaller than 25 per pound) if you are serving this alone as an appetizer. If you want to top a rice dish with these shrimp to make the main course, you can use smaller ones.

These shrimp are served shell-on, which keeps them moist and gives them more flavor than if you removed the shell. But if shelling shrimp at the table is not for you, you can remove the shells and still make this dish.

1 pound shrimp, uncooked, unpeeled
1 tablespoon peanut oil, or other vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons honey, or light brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 to 3 small hot chiles, such as Thai chiles, finely chopped
1/4 cup chicken stock, or fish stock
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Cooked rice, optional, for serving

Gather the ingredients.

The Spruce / Wanda Abraham
With a sharp knife, slice down the backs of the shrimp to expose the black "vein," which is the shrimp's digestive tract. Pull out this little vein, but keep the shells on the shrimp. Rinse under cold water and pat dry.

The Spruce / Wanda Abraham
Heat the peanut oil and sesame oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat for a minute or two.

The Spruce / Wanda Abraham
Add the shrimp and the honey or brown sugar and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the garlic, shallot, and chile peppers, and stir-fry for another minute or two.

The Spruce / Wanda Abraham
Add the stock (you can use water if you do not have stock available), fish sauce and salt and turn the heat to its highest setting. Let this boil down until the pan is nearly dry, which should only take a minute or two.

The Spruce / Wanda Abraham
Serve at once, garnished with the cilantro over rice, if desired.

The Spruce / Wanda Abraham

Tips

You can adjust the heat any way you want. You could use three Thai chiles for some serious heat, or 1 full cayenne would be similar, as would half a habanero. Or you can use less to your taste―or none at all.

This is excellent beer food, but a sweet-salty Thai limeade would be great, too (if you can’t find Thai limeade, just add a pinch of salt to your favorite limeade brand). As for pairing with wine, go with a gewürztraminer or an off-dry Riesling, or maybe a tropical-tasting Roussanne from California.

Firecracker Shrimp

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
138	Calories
6g	Fat
9g	Carbs
12g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories	138
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6g	8%
Saturated Fat 1g	6%
Cholesterol 101mg	34%
Sodium 758mg	33%
Total Carbohydrate 9g	3%
Dietary Fiber 1g	3%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 12g
Vitamin C 2mg	12%
Calcium 56mg	4%
Iron 1mg	3%
Potassium 178mg	4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.