I was never really a fan of dishes that are loaded with too much spice and heat that my tastebuds are burned beyond its capacity to savor the flavors. However there's this dish that always makes me salivate just by the thought of it. Shrimp and squid rings, sauteed in garlic, chili paste, oyster sauce and sesame oil... very few ingredients but bursting with so much flavor.
For this recipe you would need the following:
-1/2 kilo of prawns
- 1/2 kilo of squid
- 1/4 cup of butter
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. of chili paste
- 1/4 cup of oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Shrimps always look better when served with shells and heads still intact.But I always devein and peel the shrimps first before cooking them. Just leave the last segment of the shell right nest to the tail end. After that, just run the knife at the back of each shrimp, and remove any grit or sand. Wash them quickly under running water and drain. Set aside.
For the squid, you simply just have to clean them inside and out, take the skin off, and cut them into rings. I prefer medium sized squid than the small or huge ones. Smaller squid have a tendency to shrink too much overcook too fast. Huge ones are as tricky as well. They start to overcook in just a matter minutes. Hence I always use the medium sized ones.
Take it easy with using chili paste. A little goes a long way. You might
wanna add a little bit of sugar just to round up all the flavors when sauteing. Sesame oil goes very well with most Asian stir-fried dishes. Adding some scallions for flavor would also be very nice.
Just melt the butter with the cooking oil, and saute the garlic for about a minute. Add in the shrimp and squid and saute for about 2 minutes. Add in the chili paste, oyster sauce, and sesame oil, saute for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. You can add a little bit of water to have more sauce .
There you have it! A simple, rich, spicy seafood dish in less than ten minutes. Perfect with huge bowl of hot steaming white rice. Enjoy!
