It is now truly Spring: Masters’ Week is here! That’s right, the most prestigious golf tournament in the US teed off this morning. The azaleas are in bloom, warm breezes are abound, and threats of thunderstorms are threatening to wreak havoc over the course of play this weekend. However, last night, Scottie Scheffler hosted the traditional Masters Champions Dinner, a meal hosted by the prior year’s winner for all of the other past green-jacketed winners of the tournament. His menu included: Sliders, Firecracker Shrimp, Tortilla Soup, Texas Ribeye or Blackened Redfish, followed by a Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie…for a refined sport, this dude still eats like a teenager. I thought I’d get in on the fun and try my hand at making firecracker shrimp. Not only was this easier than I thought it would be, the result was crackling and delicious! Want a cocktail to wash down these appetizers? Try my Augusta-themed Azalea cocktail from last year.
Firecracker Shrimp
4” piece of ginger
¼ tsp sugar
Juice from half a lime
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 lb of shrimp
Scallion, sliced thin
Fresno chili pepper, seeded and minced finely
~2 tbsp of fresh cilantro or basil, minced
Egg/Spring Roll wrappers
Cornstarch or flour
Oil for frying
Sweet Chili Sauce
Peel the ginger and cut into 4 pieces. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the ginger until it is pulverized. Pick up all of the ginger strands and squeeze out all of the juice into a medium-sized glass bowl and discard the pieces of ginger.
Whisk the sugar, lime juice, sesame oil and seeds into the ginger juice, along with a pinch of salt and some freshly cracked black pepper, and reserve.
Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tail portion of the shell in-tact. Make a few shallow slices along the bottom of the shrimp so that they can lay flat when you roll them up later. Then, toss the shrimp into the ginger marinade as you go along.
Once all of the shrimp are in the bowl, add in the scallion, chili pepper, and herbs. Mix thoroughly with your hands or a spoon. Set aside for 15-20 mins.
Meanwhile, heat some oil in a deep fryer or pot to 350 degrees. Remove your spring roll wrappers from the packaging and wrap them in a damp kitchen towel or paper towels.
When the shrimp are done marinating, take a spring roll wrapper and place on a dry work surface with one of the corners pointing upward and slice in half making two triangles. Arrange the sliced wrapper with the cut sides facing the same direction.
Mix together 1 tbsp of cornstarch or flour with some water to make a paste/slurry.
Place one shrimp about ¼ of the way up from the bottom of one wrapper, with the tail/shell just hanging off the edge of the wrapper. Pull the bottom of the wrapper over the shrimp and tuck it in snugly.
Then, roll-up the shrimp once or twice, fold in the excess (from the non-tail side of the shrimp), and continue rolling until about 1.5 inches of the wrapper remain.
Dip your finger into the slurry and wet the remaining wrapper and roll-up the shrimp. Place to the side with the seam-side down and repeat with the remaining shrimp.
Here’s a video of the process!
Once you have completed rolling up half of the shrimp, you can start frying 6-8 at a time. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until crisped and lightly golden brown. Remove from the oil to a rack-lined baking sheet. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes prior to serving.
Serve with some sweet chili sauce. ______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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