It’s a bit odd that this is my first recipe post since I am not a huge fan of “Golden Shrimp”. To become a fan of this dish, you need to sample it at Ron of Japan or one of the other good Japanese Teppanyaki restaurants. Golden shrimp is essentially griddle seared shrimp smothered with a mayonnaise like golden sauce. It is just like it sounds: rich shellfish topped with a richer sauce. For me one or two pieces is more than enough at a meal (Ron of Japan serves it as an appetizer as well as an entrée); but my kids will eat as much as is served.
Generally I don’t try to duplicate what a restaurant does really well. In this case I did for two reasons: a) Ron of Japan is a one hour drive away and it is hard to get there for a Wednesday night dinner and b) When 5 kids order Golden shrimp for both appetizer and dinner the restaurant tab is always an eye popper. My kids fell in love with this dish when they were young as since then I have tried to imitate the sauce for Golden Shrimp, which is really the “secret” to the whole thing.
If you google “Golden Shrimp Recipe” by the way you will get many hits but no home runs. There are many guesses out there about how it’s made and how to knock it off, but few come close. My recipe that follows is really just another guess but I do feel I am fairly close to the “real thing”.
My early efforts at preparing golden shrimp involved making a mayonnaise (by hand in a mortar and pestle) using different combinations of oils and spices. While the sauce does not contain many spices, it does have a hint of flavor beyond oily mayo, and early on I decided it needed garlic to add a flavor element to the sauce. My kids all liked these efforts…even raved at times about the results…but to my mind I really had not hit the Ron of Japan mark. A big issue is which oil to use. I tried corn oil (somewhere on the net someone says corn oil) and it was a bit too oily and not Asian enough. In other attempts I combined different olive oils to the mix….while the taste was better (for me anyway) it really veered away from Japanese steak house. I’m not sure why I never considered Soybean Oil in the early efforts but whatever: Soybean Oil is the right oil to use. Tonight I even bought my Soybean Oil at the Asian Food store though I don’t think it really matters.
One unique quality about golden shrimp sauce is the color. Golden doesn’t really cover it. The result should be a nuclear yellow/orange color, almost resembling construction zone flashing lights. The challenge is to get to that color without using food color, which I am pretty sure the restaurant includes in their version. My solution is to add a few threads of saffron. It gives the sauce a little more taste interest and covers the color requirement.
This afternoon I discovered the missing element when for the umpteenth time I googled for the mystery sauce recipe. On the net I found a recipe including Miso paste in the sauce. I picked up a small container at the Asian grocer and while I believe you can make a reasonable facsimile without the miso, it cuts some of the oiliness of the sauce and adds a little more of that Asian flavor profile. I found the miso in the refrigerator section of the store. There are a few varieties ( miso paste is the main ingredients in miso soup) but I chose the one with the fewest flavor additives.
Here is the version I made tonight which turned out rather well:
Golden Shrimp Sauce Recipe
2egg yolks
1 cup Soybean Oil
a few threads saffron
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon (or a little more) Miso paste
Small clove crushed Garlic (optional)
Bring your eggs to room temperature if possible. Add a clove of crushed Garlic, lemon, safronandthe egg yolks to your mortar (or other mayonnaise making bowl. I’m sure an expert mayo maker could make this in a blender or any number of other simpler ways, but I learned to make mayo in a mortar and that works for me.) Briskly stir the egg yolk and crushed garlic mixture until the yolks begin to turn pale and smooth and the garlic is well crushed and incorporated. Begin to SLOWLY drizzle the oil into the mixture while constantly blending with the pestle. The mixture may begin to separate in which case you have added oil to quickly and you need to beat more vigorously until the mix is hom*ogenous. Continue adding oil in a slow stream until it is all incorporated. When finished mixing your hand should hurt. It helps to have an extra hand to stream the oil into the mortar and relieve the beating/stirring activity.
(Edit Feb 2012:The mortar and pestle method of makingmayo sauce is tried and true and very time consuming. Since writing the above, I have discovered the joys of immersion blending. Put all the ingredients into the tall slender immersion blender cup which came with the blender. Add the oil last.Allow the egg yolk to settle to the bottom. Insert the blender (switched off) to the bottom of the cup. Turn it on. Mayo will begin to form at the bottom of the cup. Slowly pull the blender up through the liquid until you end up with a cup of Golden shrimp sauce. The whole operation takes under a minute.)
Mix about your Miso Paste into the mayo mixture until well incorporated. Taste for seasoning (the Miso will add salt to the sauce) and it is ready to use. Store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook your shrimp.
Golden Shrimp Recipe
1 or 2 lbs Fresh or Frozen Raw and thawed deveined tail on shrimp without the shell (at least 24 count* but the bigger the better)
1 T Vegetable Oil for cooking
Salt and pepper
If you are using larger shrimp (I would guess under 16 count) butterfly your shrimp by cutting on the belly side. Smaller shrimp can be cooked whole. Heat an oiled skillet until very hot. Place butterflyed shrimp cut side down and fry hot until they are almost completely turned orange (be careful to not overcook the shrimp as they will turn tough in a hurry.) About 2 or 3 minutes is all the heat the shrimp will need but let the color of the shrimp help determine their doneness. As they are turning orange, spoon a teaspoon glop of sauce on each piece. Cover the shrimp with a lid for 1 to two minutes. Remove lid and serve to plates.
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Traditionally fried rice, stir fired vegetables and bean sprouts are served with Golden Shrimp. Tonight I carried the fried rice out of the local Thai restaurant because frankly, they make way better fried rice than I have ever made. And I was short on time.
It’s Emma’s birthday today (Happy Birthday Em!!!) and she requested this as her birthday dinner.
