Shrimp vermicelli is a dish that combines the essence of the sea and the earth, and its historical origins can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. At that time, fishermen skillfully combined fresh shrimp caught with vermicelli grown on land to create a delicious dish that combines the freshness of seafood with the flexibility of vermicelli. The Song Dynasty poet Su Shi mentioned in his "Huanxi Sha Yong Seafood" that "the sea is wrong and the mountains are delicacies in the same pot, and the vermicelli is fragrant with shrimp paste", although it does not directly refer to this dish, but it also reflects the food fashion of seafood and vermicelli at that time, which shows that the cultural heritage of this dish is profound.
Cooking Steps:
1. **Preparation Materials** (4 servings)
- Prawns 250 grams
- Vermicelli 100 grams
- 3 garlic cloves (sliced)
- Ginger 3 slices
- 2 shallots (cut into sections)
- Light soy sauce 2 tablespoons
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (for coloring, optional)
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- Salt a pinch
- Ground white pepper a little
- 300 ml of stock or water
2. Soak the vermicelli in warm water in advance until soft, cut short and set aside.
3. Remove the shell and tail of the shrimp, open the back and remove the gut, marinate with a pinch of salt and cooking wine for 10 minutes.
4. Heat the pan with cold oil, add ginger and garlic slices and stir-fry until fragrant, add shrimp and stir-fry quickly until it changes color, then remove and set aside.
5. Leave the bottom oil in the pot, add the stock and bring to a boil, add the vermicelli, and simmer over low heat until the vermicelli is translucent.
6. Add light soy sauce and dark soy sauce to adjust the color, sprinkle with white pepper, add the fried shrimp and shallots, cover and simmer for 3 minutes.
Tips:
- When stir-frying shrimp, the heat should not be too high to prevent the shrimp from shrinking too quickly and getting old.
- **Shrimp shell flavoring**: Before frying shrimp, you can fry the shrimp shell until it is slightly yellow, make shrimp oil, and add it during subsequent cooking, which is full of aroma.
- **Rapid softening of vermicelli**: Quickly soak vermicelli in hot water, and then rinse it with cold water, so that vermicelli is more tendonous and not easy to break.
When the shrimp vermicelli pot is served on the table, it is steaming, the shrimp shell is slightly red and translucent, the vermicelli is crystal clear, and the wisps of soup are entwined, and the garlic fragrance and the deliciousness of the seafood are intertwined, teasing every taste bud. Gently bite down into the shrimp meat, the elastic texture and rich soup are perfectly combined, and the vermicelli slides into the mouth, smooth and tough, and every bite is the ultimate indulgence of the taste.