The good thing about having a chest freezer is that we can buy food on sale and store it away for later. This leads to the bad thing about having a chest freezer: it enables me to accumulate far more frozen shrimp than I know what to do with. When confronted with a "$1.00 off per package, limit four" shrimp coupon, the rational part of my brain points out that are already four packages of shrimp in the freezer, and I have no imminent plans to use them. Of course, this logic is no match for the impulsive part of my brain that is known for stunts like eating Redi-Whip straight from the can, and the four bags of shrimp end up in my shopping cart. The obvious solution to this problem would be to simply stop buying so much shrimp. Since this requires self control in the face of a potential bargain, I chose the alternative solution of eating more shrimp, which in turn necessitates coming up with some interesting shrimp recipes.
This shrimp lo mein is my first attempt. The olive oil and apple cider vinegar are in no way authentic, but they were what I had on hand. Since the oyster-flavored sauce provides the bulk of the flavor, my unorthodox substitutions didn't seem to make a difference.
Adapted from the Real Simple recipe by Charlyne Mattox
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces lo mein noodles
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 12 ounces peeled and deveined medium frozen shrimp, thawed and with tails removed
- 2 cups snow peas
- 4 green onions, chopped, with white and green parts separated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup oyster-flavored sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon water
- crushed red pepper
Prepare pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile, heat oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add the shrimp, snow peas, white parts of the green onions, garlic, and salt and cook until shrimp are no longer translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in the oyster-flavored sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, and water. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened, about 1 minute. Add the prepared noodles and toss.
Garnish with the green parts of the green onions and sprinkle with red pepper before serving.
