by Chef Adam Lambay
Saucy, spicy, shrimpy, and oh so delicious. What Americans call “Chinese food” often has added sugar, carb-packed hoisin sauce and, oh yeah, that carbolicious jasmine rice — not exactly diabetic-friendly. Adam has found a way to cut the carbs and still keep delicious flavor without all the added sugar. And at only 10g net carbs per serving you can enjoy a half cup of brown rice for an additional 22g net carbs if your individual carb counts allow. But this shrimp is so good we don’t think you’ll miss the rice.
Ingredients:
Dried Arbol Chilis or Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
4 tsp Peanut Oil
1 Medium Red Onion, cut into thin julienne strips
1 Medium Red Bell Pepper, cut into thin julienne strips
6 Cloves Garlic, smashed
1 Tbsp Minced Ginger
1/2 Cup Cashews, broken into pieces
2 Lbs Shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail off
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Cup Shrimp/Seafood Stock
1 tsp Sambal
2 tsp Rice Vinegar
1/2 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
3 Scallions, cut into 1-inch long pieces, including green & white parts
Dash of Oyster Sauce
You want to have everything measured out and sitting by the stove. This dish goes together very quickly and you need to have all your ingredients prepped and close at hand.
Start by heating a large, wide, flat bottomed pan over very high heat. You want the most surface area possible. When the pan is very hot add the peanut oil. You want the pan to be coated evenly with just a bit of extra oil rolling around. When the oil is starting to smoke, add the onions and red pepper, constantly moving them around the pan. You’re not creating color, you’re coaxing out the natural sweetness of the veg. You want the pepper to stay crunchy and the onion to just begin to soften, about 1 minute. Then add the ginger and garlic, again, keeping everything in constant motion, about 30-60 seconds. Don’t let the garlic burn!
Add the shrimp, constantly moving around the pan. Remember, this is a stir fry. Once the shrimp is opaque, add the chilis or pepper flakes to your taste. Immediately add the cashews and sambal. Stir and move it around 1 full turn to coat the shrimp with the chilis and sambal. Then immediately add the rice vinegar to loosen everything off the pan. Then quickly add the soy sauce and shrimp stock to deglaze your pan. Keep tossing and stirring the shrimp. Hit it with a dash of oyster sauce. Stir to coat again and you’re done.
Serves 6 – Approximately 10g net carbs per serving.
Note: A Life Well Eaten follows diabetic educator guidelines for determining net carbs.
Suggested formula is total carbs minus half the fiber, i.e. 16g carbs and 4g fiber would be 14g net carbs. The food industry determines net carbs as total carbs minus fiber which would come in at 12g net carbs.