Spicy Shrimp Noodle Soup by Chef James Tracey
James & I LOVE Sichuan food, and one of our favorite dishes is Shui Zhu Yu – water boiled fish. It’s fragrant, lightly numbing with just enough heat and tender fish. We’ve been playing with a recipe for this for a while, and we finally settled on this version with noodles and thick soup that is almost like a GUMBO! If you don’t want the soup to be as thick, cook the noodles separately, or you can serve rice on the side.
Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 lb fresh noodles (we used fresh lo mein noodles)
Shrimp:
• 2 lb shell-on shrimp
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 Tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
Vegetables:
• 1 tsp vegetable/canola oil
• 1lb celery, cut on bias
• 1lb Bok choy, cut on bias
Broth:
• 2 tbsp vegetable/canola oil
• 10 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp ginger, minced
• 6 scallions, chopped
• 4 Tbsp spicy doubanjang
• 1T Sichuan chili flakes
• 2 lb fish bones (white fish, no gills)
Garnish:
• Coriander, chopped
• 3 Tbsp CY Eats MaLa Chili Oil (we used Original)
Peel shrimp, saving shells. Combine remainder of “Shrimp” ingredients and marinate peeled shrimp. Set aside.
Put shrimp shells in a large microwaveable bowl. Cover shells with 2 QT of water and microwave until boiling. Strain shells from liquid to be used for broth.
In a large pot, saute garlic, ginger, scallions in oil over medium-high until lightly browned. Add doubanjiang and pepper flakes and saute with garlic mixture for a minute. Add shrimp stock and fish bones and bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook for another 45 minutes. Remove fish bones from broth then simmer for another hour.
Bring the broth to a boil then cook fresh noodles in broth. Add shrimp just before noodles are cooked. Make sure to bring broth to a boil after adding shrimp for the cornstarch to thicken soup.
Saute celery and Bok choy separately with 1 tsp oil over high heat until wilted and then add to soup.
Serve and garnish with cilantro and CY Eats MaLa Chili Oil.