Chinese · Jiangnan · appetizer

Longjing Tea Shrimp (Longjing Xia Ren)

Longjing Tea Shrimp (Longjing Xia Ren) reads salinity 4.6, sweetness 4.5 and nutty 3.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Chinese · Jiangnan appetizer, about 37 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 4.6 · Sweetness 4.5 · Nutty 3.5 · Richness 3.1 · Funk & Ferment 2.8 · Umami 1.4 · Sourness 0.7 · Bitterness 0.6

What's in it (12)

Time & effort: about 37 min (4 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 15.6 kcal, 1.4 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 1.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Rinse the shrimp in salted water, then dry them thoroughly on a cloth. Hangzhou cooks sometimes leave them wrapped in a towel in the fridge for an hour. Dry shrimp take a coating; wet ones do not.
  2. Mix the shrimp with the salt, egg white and potato starch until slick, and chill 30 minutes. This is velveting proper: the egg-white and starch film sets in the oil and holds the shrimp at the point of just-done.
  3. Pour the 80 C water over the tea leaves and steep 3 minutes. Do not use boiling water, which turns Longjing bitter and cabbagey. Keep the leaves and the liquor separately.
  4. Heat the oil in a wok to only 110 to 120 C, so that it barely moves. Slip in the shrimp, stir gently to separate them, and cook 30 to 45 seconds, just until they turn opaque and curl into loose Cs. Drain at once. This low-temperature passing through the oil is a poach in oil, not a fry.
  5. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the oil. Over medium heat add the Shaoxing wine, 3 tbsp of the tea liquor, the sugar and wok salt, bring to a simmer, then add the slaked starch and stir 15 seconds until it just glosses.
  6. Return the shrimp with a spoonful of the steeped leaves, toss 15 seconds and serve immediately on a white plate. The dish should smell of spring tea before it smells of anything else.
  7. Substitutions: small prawns can stand in for the raw peeled freshwater shrimp.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.