8 grass shrimps, 300g bean sprouts, 1 box of Japanese tofu, some potato starch, 4T oil.
SEASONINGS:
(1) 1 egg white, 1/2t salt, some ground white pepper, 1T cornstarch.
(2) 1/2t salt, some rice wine.
(3) 1/2t salt, some ground white pepper, some sesame oil, 1/2 cup of stock, 1/2T cornstarch.
PREPARATION :
1. Cut off the shrimps' heads and legs; Discard the shell (except the section which is just next to the tail); Devein with toothpicks; Make a light incision on the stomach; Rinse and pat dry; Marinate in seasoning (1) for 20 minutes; Curl shrimp up, push tail through the cut and pull out from the other side to make each stand up.
2. Soak tofu in salty water for 10 minutes; Remove and cut into squares.
3. Soak bean sprouts in salty water for 30 minutes; Remove and rinse.
4. Dip each shrimp into potato starch and place on each piece of tofu; Arrange on a greased steaming plate.
5. Arrange a steaming rack into a deep wok; Arrange the plate on the steaming rack; Pour water into the wok till 1/4 height of the plate; Cover the wok with a lid; Steam over a high heat for 5 minutes.
6. Heat a wok with 2T oil over a high heat; Stir-fry the bean sprouts over a high heat briefly; Add seasoning (2) and stir-fry over a high heat till mixed; Remove the bean sprouts only.
7. Arrange the bean sprouts to the centre of a serving plate surrounded by shrimp-tofu mix.
8. Add seasoning (3) to a bowl and mix well; Heat a wok with 1t oil over a high heat; Pour seasoning (3) to the wok and bring to the boil over a high heat; Turn off the heat; Drizzle on the shrimp-tofu mix.
COOKING TIPS:
1. Quality shrimp should not have a black dot on its head because this is a major sign that the shrimp is not fresh and its head is likely to come off.
2. "Devein" means removing the ugly dark "vein" along the shrimp's back, which is actually the shrimp's digestive tract with a lot of sand and makes the shrimp taste gritty and bad to the palate.
