Grace Young’s Creamy Hot Pepper Shrimp Stir-Fry Is the Fast & Fancy Dinner to Make Tonight

Prep: 25 mins

Cook: 10 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 2 Servings

All month long, so many of you have been cooking out of my book Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, Kitchn’s Cookbook Club pick. Now that you’ve mastered the basic stir-frying techniques, it’s time to go beyond the classic dishes. Stir-frying is so flexible, you can use it to whip together all sorts of meals with just a few supermarket ingredients, like this creamy red pepper shrimp. Here, heavy cream and hot sauce combine to create a spicy, decadent sauce for stir-fried shrimp and tender-crisp veggies. It’s finger-licking good.

Ingredients

1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon Tabasco hot sauce
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 1 large or 2 medium cloves)
2 medium red, yellow, or green bell peppers
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 pound large peeled, deveined raw shrimp, tail on
2 tablespoons peanut or grapeseed oil, divided

Instructions

Place 1/4 cup heavy cream, 3 tablespoons chicken broth, 1 tablespoon sherry, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl and stir until the cornstarch is dissolved. Combine 1 teaspoon sweet paprika and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a small bowl or dish.
Mince 1 large or 2 medium garlic cloves (1 tablespoon). Cut 2 medium bell peppers into 1/4-inch wide strips (about 2 cups). Finely chop 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves. Pat 1 pound shrimp dry with paper towels.
Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12 inch skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of the oil, add the garlic, and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Push the garlic to the side of the pan, then carefully add the shrimp and spread into a single layer. Cook undisturbed 1 minute to let the shrimp begin to sear. Sprinkle with the paprika mixture. Using a metal spatula, stir-fry to incorporate the garlic and cook until the shrimp are lightly browned but not cooked through, about 30 seconds.
Drizzle in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add the bell peppers and stir-fry until just combined, about 30 seconds. Restir the broth mixture, and then drizzle it into the pan. Stir-fry until the shrimp are just cooked, the vegetables are tender-crisp, and the sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley.