KKangpung Saeu (Sweet and Spicy Shrimp)

Hello all! I'm sorry that I have not posted in a week. Things have been a little hectic around here. My roommates have had a guest staying with us while he was visiting from Japan. We had a really fun time but this also meant a lot of going out. So while I did make some food I wasn't as diligent about writing about it here. I don't know how other bloggers do it. How do they cook this delicious food, photograph it beautifully, and still maintain a full time job, while making time for friends and family? My hat's off to you bloggers. You make it look beautiful and easy. Maybe one day my blog game will be on par with theirs. But regardless of how my blog looks or reads, I love it. I truly enjoy cooking and eating this food. Korean food makes up the majority of my diet and to be honest I feel great. While I may not make the healthiest dishes I do think that most Korean food is healthy and has many benefits. I think it's all the fermented ingredients like kimchi. I also think that most Korean food is made with love. There is so much time and effort put into these dishes. My roommate says that growing up her mom always made the most delicious, healthy food. That's my goal. I want to create beautiful, delicious, healthy meals made with love. I'm still getting the hang of creating a full meal but I'm improving.
I'm going to make an acceptation regarding my playlist this week. Normally I only talk about Kpop but since Prince passed away this week I am going to dedicate this week to him. My mom is a big Prince fan and I grew up listening to his music. I loved the movie Purple Rain! Prince is incredibly talented. The first song on my playlist is Raspberry Beret. I loved singing this song when I was younger. There was just something about this song. Maybe it was how he chose to describe this woman. I definitely wanted to have a Raspberry Beret. The next song on my playlist in U Got the Look. I love the line "I've never seen such a pretty girl look so tough." I really enjoy how prince described women. It always painted the picture of a real woman as opposed to some ideal image that was dreamed up. His songs were so sexy and real. I also feel that for the most part they were empowering to women. I know that for me his song made me feel like I could be a strong, independent woman and still be loved by men. I didn't have to cower down or hide myself to be loved in his world and that was so awesome! We need more of that.
Ok, now onto the cooking. I got this recipe from the Korean Bapsang.

Ingredients
1 pound large shrimp (about 22 large shrimp), peeled and deveined.
Oil for frying

Batter
8 tablespoons potato starch
1 egg

Aromatic vegetables
4 to 5 small dried red hot peppers, roughly cut
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 inch ginger, thinly julienned
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/4 medium onion, finely diced
1/4 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 green chili pepper, finely diced

Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons rice or dry white wine (or use more water)
2 tablespoons water (or chicken or dashiki broth)
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil.

Step 1.
Clean the shrimp, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let it sit until ready to coat with the batter

Step 2.
Prepare the vegetables.

Step 3.
In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients, except the sesame oil, well until the sugar is dissolved.

Step 4.
Add the starch and egg to the bowl with the shrimp. Mix everything well by hand until there is no visible starch powder and the shrimp is evenly coated with the batter.

Step 5.
Add 4 cups of oil to a deep fryer, wok or large pot. Heat over high heat to 340 degrees Fahrenheit or until a drop of batter in the oil moderately bubbles up to the surface. Using metal tongs or chopsticks, drop the shrimp in the oil one at a time, in two batches. Cook until lightly golden, about a minute.

Step 6.
Remove them quickly with a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer set on a bowl. Reheat the oil to 340 degrees Fahrenheit between the batches and for the second frying.

Step 7.
Add the shrimp and briefly deep fry again until lightly golden brown. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer.

Step 8.
In a large pan or wok, add the dried pepper and 3 tablespoons of deep-frying oil over low heat until the oil starts to turn red. The only takes a few seconds. do no burn the peppers.

Step 9.
Turn up the heat to high. Add the garlic, ginger, onion and scallion, and stir fry briefly until fragrant. Stir in the green chili pepper and red bell pepper, and cook for an additional minute or two.

Step 10.
Add the sauce, and boil for a couple of minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened, about two minutes.

Step 11.
Drop the shrimp into the pan, and quickly stir everything together until the sauce is almost absorbed. Drizzle the sesame oil, and toss everything together again. Serve immediately.

I really enjoyed how this dish turned out. It is so colorful and flavorful. I wasn't able to find dried whole chili peppers so I used these peppers cut until strings. I think that if I had used dried peppers is would have come out spicier. I would have liked this dish to have a little more heat to it. The sauce didn't thicken as I had anticipated. If it had been a little thicker I think it would have coated the shrimp better. Overall it turned out delicious and I am happy with it. Thank you for joining me for another adventure.

XOXO,
Rachel