Galangal Shrimp and Vegetable Stir Fry

I love the stir fried vegetables with shrimp you can get in Chinatown in Boston.  You know the kind with the clear garlic ginger sauce, not the brown soy sauce kind or the black bean kind, but have never seen a recipe for it.  I’ve been recreating it in my head for a long time and finally gave it a whirl.  This didn’t end up too spicy even though Dan and I were coughing and sneezing through the whole cooking process.  Thank goodness we had a warm spell and could open the windows!  It has a nice warm heat from the galangal and jalapeno.  While you may substitute fresh ginger for the galangal, it’s worth looking for since it has a slightly different taste which I just love.

¾ lb jumbo shrimp shelled and butterflied

1 egg white

3 to 4 tbs corn starch, divided

2 to 3 tbs galangal, fresh grated, divided

1 lb baby bok choy, separated into leaves

½ lb Chinese mustard greens, cut into 2” pieces

1 red bell pepper, strips 2” x 1/3”

2 large jalapenos cut into thin rings

1 large carrot, strips 2” x ¼”

4 scallions in 1” pieces

½ lb snow peas, stems removed

1 garlic clove, grated on microplane

1 cup chicken stock or broth

1 ½ tbs tequila

2 tbs peanut oil, divided

½ tea Kosher salt or to taste

• Place the shrimp in a medium bowls, mix in the egg white, a pinch of Kosher salt,  and 1 tbs corn starch.  Grate in 1 tbs galangal (I use my course Microplane.  Set aside.
• Mix the chicken stock or broth with 2 tbs corn starch, 2 tbs grated galangal, Kosher salt, and tequila.  Set aside.
• Have all the vegetables prepped and ready to toss into the wok.
• Heat a large wok over high heat.  Add 1 tbs peanut oil and swirl to coat bottom of the wok. 
• Add the shrimp being careful to keep them separated so that they cook quickly.  Once they have begun to turn pink and are almost cooked through, remove to a bowl and set aside.  Don’t worry that they aren’t fully cooked yet, they will finish cooking later.  Scrape out any egg white mixture that remains in the wok.
• Add another tbs of peanut oil to the wok then toss in the carrot, stir around for half a minute, add the baby bok choy.  Stir fry for a minute or two then add grate in the garlic.  Add in the red pepper strips and jalapeno rings.  Stir fry for another minute or so.  Continue stir frying and add in the Chinese mustard, toss around for a few minutes then add the snow peas, scallions, and the reserved shrimp.  Once the snow peas are just tender crisp and the shrimp cooked through, slowly add in the stock mixture, stirring all the while.  You may not need all the stock, you don’t want tons of sauce with this.  Stir around until just thickened, turn off the heat.  Serve with steamed white rice.

Serves 4 to 6

Notes:

Substitute fresh ginger for the galangal.  Substitute Chinese wine, or dry sherry for the tequila.  Use another assortment of vegetables adding them in order of decending cooking time.  Use scallops or thinly sliced strips of chicken breast instead of the shrimp.  Use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock to make vegetarian.  Make more or less spicy by adding serranos, Thai chiles, or no chiles at all.