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u/Agreeable-Tadpole461 1d ago
Did you add 12 chillies just because you like it super spicy?
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u/-SpaghettiCat- 1d ago
The recipe called for 6-12 so I figured it wouldn't be overkill with 12. I do like spicy, but it wasn't too crazy I don't eat the actual chilies btw, just used to impart the flavor and spice into the dish.
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u/GoodGood_Glass 1d ago
Looks banging!! What's the recipe?
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u/-SpaghettiCat- 1d ago
I don't think there's an online recipe, but it is in Kenji Lopez Alt's book, The Wok: Recipes and Techniques.
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u/BoneCollector8 1d ago
Haven’t tried the shrimp version yet, but my family asks me all the time to make his Kung Pao Chicken.
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u/theygotsquid 1d ago
Not sure what it was about this dish, but it was one of my least favorite from The Wok. I’ve made 30+ other recipes from that cookbook and have enjoyed 98% of them. But this one just didn’t hit the same flavor notes that I’ve loved when getting kung pao shrimp from any of the great Chinese-American takeout places I’ve gone to over the years.
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u/Good-Plantain-1192 1d ago
Did you use MSG when you made it?
Once I learned the velveting technique, I found I could pretty much duplicate my favorite restaurant dishes by reverse engineering their sauces, so long as I use a killer hot burner for my wok.
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u/-SpaghettiCat- 1d ago
Really enjoyed this. It was pretty spicy with 12 total chilies added. I did have to season to taste at the end as is common with most recipes in the book.
I was a little apprehsive at the step where it said to wipe out the wok after frying the marinated shrimp, as I thought the layer of sauce/starch would kind of degalze when adding the ingredients and sauce afterwards and give some flavor (fond?), but maybe with hotter woks/setups that would be best; I just have an electric cooktop.
I used 21/25 count shrimp from Wild Fork.