Dinner · 25 min · chinese

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

Shell-on shrimp does the heavy lifting here, with cornstarch rounding it out. A Chinese dinner that takes 25 minutes, start to finish. The macros do the talking: 32g protein, 10g carbs, and 8g fat in every 260-calorie serving. Leftovers keep well, so it doubles as next-day lunch without any extra work.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Shell-on shrimp
• 0.33 cup Cornstarch
• 6 cloves Garlic
• 1 Long hot pepper
• 3 Scallions
• 1 tbsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp White pepper

Steps

1. Keep the shells on — they crisp into something deliciously edible and protect the shrimp from overcooking. Toss the shrimp in cornstarch and shake off the excess; you want a whisper of coating, not a batter.
2. Toast the salt with the white pepper in a dry wok 1 minute until fragrant, then set aside. Toasted salt tastes rounder and more complex than raw salt.
3. Shallow-fry the shrimp in 1/2 inch of hot oil, 90 seconds per side, until the shells turn orange and crisp. Drain on a rack, not paper towels — paper traps steam and softens the shells you just crisped.
4. Pour off the oil, then stir-fry the sliced garlic, hot pepper, and scallions 30 seconds until fragrant but not browned.
5. Return the shrimp, shower with the toasted salt-pepper mix, and toss 30 seconds. Serve with the shells on and eat them — crisp shell, sweet shrimp, salty heat, all in one bite.

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