With thoughts of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day coming up this weekend, here’s an Asian-inspired easy dinner to celebrate both. It’s made with jumbo shrimp and vermicelli noodles, also called rice noodles. The sauce from the shrimp is absorbed by the noodles as they steam together.
The entire meal is steamed on one plate. You don’t need a special steamer to make this dinner. Here are some ideas if you don’t have a steamer:
Use a roasting pan or large skillet with a rack or broiler pan. Cover tightly with foil if you do not have a lid for the pan.
Or, use a collapsible vegetable steaming rack and place in a skillet.
Steamed Garlic Shrimp With Vermicelli Noodles
Yield 2 servings. Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
4 ounces vermicelli rice noodles
¼ pound snow peas steamed with shrimp
¾ pound jumbo shrimp
4 teaspoons sesame oil, divided use
5 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons sugar
2 scallions, sliced (about ⅓ cup)
Place vermicelli in a bowl of warm water. Soak vermicelli for about 10 minutes until softened. Drain and use scissors to cut the long noodles into 2 to 3 sections. Spread noodles on a large plate. Place snow peas on top of the noodles. Add the shrimp over the snow peas. Heat 2 teaspoons sesame oil in a small sauce pan. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute. Spoon garlic and oil over the shrimp. Add the soy sauce, water and sugar to the same sauce pan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Add remaining 2 teaspoons sesame oil to the sauce. Set aside. Bring water to a boil in wok or large sauce pan. Add a steam basket over the water and place the plate on top. Cover with a lid and steam 10 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Remove the plate and spoon the sauce over the shrimp. Let soak in a minute and divide the ingredients between two dinner plates.
Per serving: 498 calories (19% from fat), 10.4 g fat (1.6 g saturated, 3.8 g monounsaturated), 276 mg cholesterol, 41.8 g protein, 59 g carbohydrates, 3.1 fiber, 1082 mg sodium.
