Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Shell-on shrimp fried until shatteringly crisp, tossed with garlic, chili, and toasted peppercorn salt. Eat them shell and all.
Salt and pepper shrimp is a Cantonese restaurant staple built on an idea that surprises a lot of American diners: you eat the shells. Fried hard at 375°F, shrimp shells become thin, brittle, and crisp, and they hold far more flavor than the meat inside.
The seasoning is deliberately minimal — toasted peppercorns, salt, garlic, and fresh chili. There is no sauce at all, which puts all the weight on two things: frying hot enough that the shells actually crisp, and grinding the peppercorn salt fresh.
Deveining through the shell takes a few minutes with kitchen scissors and is worth doing. Cut down the back, lift the vein out, and leave everything else intact.
Instructions
- 1
Make the peppercorn salt: toast the Sichuan and white peppercorns in a dry pan 2 minutes until fragrant, grind to a powder, and mix with the coarse salt and five-spice.
- 2
Cut along the back of each shell with scissors and pull the vein out, leaving the shell on. Rinse and dry the shrimp completely — bone dry.
- 3
Toss the shrimp with the Shaoxing wine, then dredge in cornstarch and shake off the excess.
- 4
Heat the oil to 375°F. Fry the shrimp in two batches for 2 minutes each, until the shells are deep orange and genuinely crisp. Drain on a rack.
- 5
Pour off all but a tablespoon of oil. Stir-fry the garlic, chilies, and scallion whites over medium heat for 30 seconds — take it slow, burnt garlic ruins the plate.
- 6
Return the shrimp, sprinkle over the peppercorn salt, and toss hard for 30 seconds so everything sticks.
- 7
Scatter the scallion greens and serve immediately, with the shells on.
Cook’s Notes
- The shells are the point. Fried at 375°F they turn thin and crisp and are entirely edible, and they carry most of the flavor — peel them and you have plain fried shrimp.
- Dry the shrimp completely before coating. Wet shrimp make the cornstarch gummy and the oil dangerous.
- Make the peppercorn salt fresh. Pre-ground pepper has lost its aromatic oils, and this dish has nowhere for a dull spice mix to hide.
You might also like
Beef and Broccoli
Silky velveted beef and crisp-tender broccoli in a glossy brown garlic sauce. Twenty-five minutes, and the tenderness trick takes just fifteen of them.
Cashew Chicken
Tender diced chicken with toasted cashews and crisp vegetables in a light savory sauce. A gentle, kid-friendly stir-fry that still tastes like something.
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
Cantonese barbecue pork with a lacquered mahogany glaze and charred edges. Oven-roasted, no special equipment, and better than the shop window version.