Yield: 4

Adapted from: Woks of Life

This Kung Pao Shrimp recipe is accentuated by the crunch of peanuts and the spice of chili—make this restaurant-quality dish at home!
For roasting the peanuts:

• 1tsp neutral oil
• 1cup raw peanuts (shelled, with or without the skin)

For the shrimp:

• 1lb peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 1tsp neutral oil
• 1tsp Shaoxing wine
• ¼tsp salt
• ⅛tsp white pepper powder
• ½tsp cornstarch

For the sauce:

• 3TBS water
• 1TBS rice wine vinegar
• 1TBS light soy sauce
• 1tsp sugar
• 1tsp cornstarch
• ½tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder
• ½tsp dark soy sauce

For the rest of the dish:

• 3TBS neutral oil
• 3cloves garlic (smashed and sliced)
• 1TBS ginger (minced)
• 2-4dried red chilies (de-seeded and chopped; these can be quite spicy, so adjust to your own taste)
• 6scallions (white parts only, cut into ½-inch/1cm pieces)

Roast the peanuts:

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the peanuts. Stir constantly (or they’ll burn) for 4- to 5-minutes. Turn off the heat, and stir for another minute using the residual heat of the wok. Set aside to cool.

They will turn crunchy once completely cooled. You can also skip this step and use already roasted, shelled unsalted peanuts.

Prepare the shrimp:

Butterfly each shrimp, making a small cut along its back without cutting it all the way through. Add the shrimp to a bowl, along with the oil, Shaoxing wine, salt, and white pepper powder. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Mix in the cornstarch right before cooking.

Prepare the sauce:

In a medium bowl, make the sauce by combining the water, rice wine vinegar, light soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and dark soy sauce.

Assemble the dish:

Heat the wok over high heat, until it just starts to smoke. Add 2 TBS of oil, followed by the shrimp (be sure to stir the ½ tsp cornstarch into the shrimp before searing). Quickly sear the shrimp on both sides, and transfer to a bowl once they turn light pink. Set aside.

Reduce the heat to low. Add the remaining TBS of oil, garlic, ginger, chilies, and scallions. Cook for 1- to 2-minutes, until fragrant, maintaining low heat.

Increase the heat to high and add the shrimp back to the wok. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Stir up your prepared sauce (the cornstarch settles to the bottom and should be re-stirred). Add the sauce to the wok, and stir-fry for another minute. The sauce should thicken very quickly. Add the peanuts and turn off the heat. Mix everything well, and serve!