Shrimp & Scallop Noodle Bowl

Ingredients:
for the sauce:
1 1/4 cup shrimp stock
2 inch knob ginger, sliced
2 inch knob galangal, sliced
1 stalk lemongrass, sliced
1 teaspoon palm sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

for the stir fry:
3/4 lb shrimp
3/4 lb scallop
6 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms
2 carrots, in matchsticks
2 head Shanghai cabbage, sliced in 1/4 inch wide pieces horizontally
1b fresh egg noodles, boiled 1 minute then drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:
Bring the shrimp stock, ginger, galangal, and lemongrass to a boil. Boil until it is reduced to 1 cup. Strain out the solids. Stir in soy sauce and palm sugar then whisk in the cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok. Quickly stir fry the garlic then add the carrot, mushrooms and cabbage. Stir fry until the cabbage is just starting to wilt. Push the vegetables to one side of the wok, then add the seafood into the empty space. Stir fry until the shrimp and scallops are almost completely cooked through. Add the noodles and sauce. Stir fry until the noodles are soft and the sauce is mostly absorbed. Serve hot.

Yield: 2-4 servings.

My thoughts:

This was one of the tastiest noodle dishes I’ve made in a while. The noodles absorb all of the delicious broth and accent rather than obscure the natural brininess of the shrimp and scallops. It is also an exceptionally quick yet impressive looking dish to make, especially if you have a basic shrimp stock* on hand. I like to make stock whenever we have shrimp and then freeze it. You don’t even have to defrost it ahead of time, it defrosts very quickly over medium heat in a saucepan. I then flavor it to accent the rest of the ingredients of whatever I am making. In this case, I was using Asian ingredients so I used Thai-influenced add-ins. It really elevates the dish into something special.

*Basically just water, raw shrimp shells, shrimp heads if possible, lemon peel, onions, parsley etc boiled until it reduces and then skimmed of solids.

8 Comments

  1. What is galanga?

  2. Galangal root is a rhizome and has a flavor similar to ginger. However, galangal has a more complex flavor which containes some citrus notes.

  3. Looks amazing! The sauce sounds absolutely delicious 🙂

  4. “Quick and impressive” just my cup of tea! This looks so yummy, and that darn “galangal” …that’s the second time I’ve heard of it this week.
    Could you substitute ginger if you couldn’t find it?
    Great recipe and informative too!

  5. Erinn: subbing ginger would be fine.

  6. I really need to try and get some lemongrass into my routine

  7. I loved this recipe, it looks delicious 🙂
    and the picture is great.

  8. That looks so good!