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Cooking eggs is not a rocket science. There's umpteenth number of egg dishes around the world that incorporates this beautiful source of protein into delicacies that are simply remarkable. Cantonese style scrambled eggs is no different. With only a handful of ingredients readily available in your kitchen or pantry, you too could wow your friends and loved ones with this amazing egg dish that is quick and easy to make. You can whip this up as a breakfast fix or serve it as a side dish with your rice. The addition of shrimp takes this dish up a notch, since it matches the light nature of the cooked eggs. You could certainly throw in cooked pieces of sausage into the mix, but it won't align as well with the silky mouthfeel of the eggs. Remember, the eggs are the star of this dish and throwing in something complimentary is recommended, rather than something that would overpower the taste profile of this Chinese delicacy. So, without further ado, let's get cracking!
Ingredients:
-5 eggs
-1 green onion stalk, thinly sliced
-140 grams, shrimp, peeled
-1 tsp salt
-½ tsp sugar
-½ tsp white pepper powder
-1 tsp cornstarch
-2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil
Method:
-Peel and wash the shrimps. If they're too big for your liking, cut them in half, or leave them as is.
-Pat the shrimps dry with a paper towel. We don't want moisture from the shrimps disrupting in the cooking of the eggs.
-Upon drying, marinate the shrimps with cornstarch, white pepper powder and ½ tsp of salt and toss them together. The cornstarch helps absorb any excess moisture from the shrimp and makes the fried shrimp have a crispier texture on the outside.
-Move over to the stovetop and put a wok or non- stick skillet on high heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil to pan.
-Once the oil has heated up, add in the shrimp pieces.
-We're only looking to cook the shrimp till it has changed from grey to a light reddish hue. Shrimps are quite delicate and to the uninitiated, overcooking them will turn them rubbery. We're looking to cook them all the way through but we want to retain the softness of the shrimp meat which will pair with the scrambled eggs perfectly.
-Once the shrimp has curled up, turned light red all around, remove it from the pan and remove the pan off the heat.
-In a bowl, crack 5 eggs and add ½ tsp salt, sugar and a dash of vegetable oil. The oil will contribute to the silky nature of the eggs and the sugar is mostly to balance out the flavours and not actively influence them.
-Add the sliced green onion stalk to the egg mixture and vigorously beat the eggs. You'd want to incorporate as much air as possible and refrain from beating the eggs any further when you can see bubbles in the egg mixture.
-Beat the eggs the minute before you add it to the pan so that it may retain as much air that has been incorporated in the mixture. If you keep it beaten beforehand, you might not achieve the mouthfeel that you're aiming for.
-Put the same cookware back on high heat and add the rest of the 1 tbsp of oil to it.
-Add the cooked shrimp pieces back to the egg mixture and drop it in the pan.
-From here on out, the dish will cook quickly so be prepared. Once the egg starts curdling, take a spatula and push the curdled eggs to a side, letting the runny egg mixture to slide in to the hotter areas of the pan be cooked.
-Move the curdled pieces around making sure they're not being overcooked and once there's no visible runny egg mixture left, remove the contents of the pan onto a plate immediately.
-The residual heat from the pan or in the eggs itself will keep it from cooking further. Anticipate when to turn the heat off or when to remove the egg from the heated cookware onto a cooler serving plate.
And there you have it! Cantonese style scrambled eggs with shrimp is ready to be devoured. It can be a perfect accompaniment to a brunch spread or a weekday dinner and with these easy tips in mind, you too can make this yummy Chinese egg dish at home without so much as breaking a sweat!
