I love snap peas and I love shrimp, so I thought, “Why not combine them?” And with the addition of the water chestnuts and baby corn, this stir fry hinges on the exotic. (Note: you’ll find the water chestnuts in the Asian food section at the grocery store. You might have to search a bit for the baby corn…or it might be right next to the bean sprouts and snap peas.)
The trickiest part about this dish is dealing with the snap peas–as their name implies, they’re crunchy enough to snap. This comes in handy when you’re pulling off the tough, nearly-inedible string that runs along the edge of each pea: just snap off the stem tip and pull down, pulling off the strings as you go. And when you’re selecting your peas at the market, bear in mind that exposure to air makes snap peas considerably less snappy–in fact, they get so limp that they’re impossible to de-string. This means that if you find the peas loose in a basket, shuffle your hand down to the bottom to get the peas that are still fresh and crisp.
For the stir fry:
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
Large handful of snap peas, de-strung
About 6 ears of baby corn, left whole or cut in half
1 5-oz. can of water chestnuts, sliced and drained (you can usually find them pre-sliced)
Crushed red pepper flakes
3 T. soy sauce
3 T. rice wine vinegar
2-3 green onions, diced
1/2 lb. shrimp, shelled and cleaned
Rice noodles or rice (enough to serve four people)
Prepare noodles/rice according to package instructions. Set aside.
Sauteé the onions in 1 T. olive oil for about 3 minutes over medium-high heat or until almost translucent. Reduce heat to medium-low and add bean sprouts, snap peas, and baby corn. Cover and sauteé for about 3 more minutes.
Add soy sauce, vinegar, and a sprinkling of the red pepper (it’s hot!); re-cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add green onions and shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink and curled. Watch it carefully–depending on the size of the shrimp, they could cook through in 2-3 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the flesh has gone completely opaque. You could also use pre-cooked cocktail shrimp for this recipe, in which case just cook them for about a minute to heat them through.
Serve atop a bed of rice noodles/rice. Garnish with additional green onions if desired. You may wish to offer your guests soy sauce and dark sesame oil as condiments.
Enjoy!
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Tags: asian, baby corn, gluten-free, rice noodles, shrimp, snap peas, stir-fry
