I haven’t been dishing out too many home-cooked foods lately, as you all know, I was busy with Menu for Hope 4.
The campaign ended with a whopping US$82,611.00 raised, so this means that I am back to my regular posting schedule and will be serving up even more scrumptious and mouthwatering food content for your reading and viewing pleasure.
Today, I would like to introduce you to a well-known Hangzhou dish called Longjing Xia Ren (龙井虾仁) or literally, Dragon Well Tea Shrimp.
Infused with the aromatic and highly priced–and valued–Longjing tea, this dish pleases one’s palate with the lingering fragrance of the tea and the crunchy texture of the shrimp…
Longjing (Dragon Well) is a famous variety of green tea from Hangzhou (杭州) in the Zhejiang province in China.
Renowned for its high quality and intensely fragrant body, Longjing tea is well regarded as one of the most famous teas produced in China. For your information, this tea is priced at US$40.00/lb or more in the tea shops here in the US.
I first had Longjing Xia Ren (龙井虾仁) in a Hangzhou restaurant in Beijing; my Beijing friend told me that Hangzhou cuisine is superior and one of the best in China and that I had to try it out.
Prior to that, my friends in Shanghai also raved about the delicate cooking style of Hangzhou and that it’s the “secret” why Shanghainese foods are so delectable. (Due to its proximity to Hangzhou, chefs in Shanghai have been adopting and incorporating the best Hangzhou elements into Shanghainese cooking.)
I couldn’t agree more after the first bite of the famed Dongbo Rou (东波肉/braised pork belly) and this very fine Longjing Xia Ren (龙井虾仁).
While the original recipe calls for tiny river shrimp native to that region, I opted for raw, peeled, and frozen baby shrimp–which coincidently is an import from Malaysia.
The frozen shrimp lends that crunchy texture that I was looking for. With the simplest of ingredients, a wonderful dish was created and superb flavor delivered. I especially love that bitter tint of Longjing tea in the shrimp; it was out-of-this-world.
This Dragon Well Tea Shrimp will go well with the following recipes:
- Minced Chicken with Pork Rolls
- Pork Ribs and Lotus Roots Soup
- Steamed Scallops with Fermented Black Beans
- Stir-fried Chive Buds
Long Jing Xia Ren (龙井虾仁) / Dragon Well Tea Shrimp Recipe
Dragon Well Tea Shrimp. Infused with the aromatic and highly priced–and valued–Longjing tea, this dish pleases one’s palate with the lingering fragrance of the tea and the crunchy texture of the shrimp.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb raw, peeled & frozen baby shrimp
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/8 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 tablespoon Longjing tea leaves
- 1/4 cup hot water
- Some chopped scallion
- 1 tablespoon egg white
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
-
Defrost the frozen shrimp, rinse well, and pat dry with paper towels. Add corn starch and egg white to the shrimp and marinate for 15 minutes. Prepare the tea in a small tea pot by adding 1/4 cup hot water to the tea leaves. Set aside for 5 minutes and then filter the tea and set aside for the stir-fry.
-
Heat up 1 teaspoon cooking oil in a wok and toss in the shrimp. Do a few quick stir until the shrimp is 50% cooked, dish out and set aside. Wash the wok and heat it up again with the remaining 1 teaspoon cooking oil. Add the shrimp back into the wok, and quickly follow by the tea, Shaoxing wine, salt, and chopped scallion. Do a quick stir over high heat until the shrimp is cooked, dish out and serve immediately.
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Anonymous
This dragon well tea shrimp looks. i will try to make it using your dragon well tea shrimp recipe.
Nate 2.0
After making the tea, you can take the tea leaves and put it on your skin to improve your complexion ;-)
Rasa Malaysia
Anonymous – thanks for your kind comment.
Kevin – yes, longjing tea is awesome. I love it. :)
Andaliman – good luck, yes, do try it and I hope you will like it. For the tea, you can get it from Chinese stores selling tea leaves.
Lucia – correct, I don’t believe any restaurants in Penang serves this just yet. ;)
Anonymous – I checked out http://www.teacuppa.com, it’s very impressive. I love it…now I know where to get gourmet tea.
Maybahay – yes, they were fresh and delish. :)
Unka – yes, longjing is one of the most expensive tea leaves, but you only need a little bit to cook this dish, so it’s OK. ;)
ThaiCooking – I like your website, I will add you to my blogroll the next time I update. Thanks for your comment.
Kate / Kajal – Yes, I have been to Ye Shanghai in Marco Polo Hong Kong, in fact, I went there just a few months ago. I loooooove the food there, it was great, unfortunately I didn’t try this dish. Anyway, I have to go back there or try out the Ye Shanghai in Shanghai. Been to Shanghai so many times but never tried that restaurant, what a waste!
Claude – I hope you have had a Merry Christmas…now onto New Year!!! Cheers, more wine please. ;)
Meiyen – thanks and happy holidays to you and your honey, too. :)
Lingzie – thanks for your comment. Yes, you can make it, it’s very easy. :)
Kok – I didn’t know either until I bought it. :-O
Tiga – you are right, the longjing tea leaves expanded to very big in the tea pot…it was quite a sight. I was wondering about it when I saw them expanded. :P
East Meets West – which part of SEA are you in? Yes, yes, try it if you can.
Piggy – yes, simple and delish. Happy Holidays to you, too. :)
Okihwn – yes, I do have the recipe for Dongbo Rou, but you will have to wait for it as I haven’t made them. ;)
Joe – that’s what I did, I ate the whole plate in front of the TV. :P
"Joe" who is constantly craving
i would really love to eat this in front of the TV hahaha…
OkiHwn
You have a recipe for the Dongbo Rou (东波肉/braised pork belly)?
Piggy
Love the simplicity of the dish and I bet it must be delicious too!
Merry x’mas to you!
East Meets West Kitchen
Mmm! I must try this dish while I’m in South-East Asia!
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
tigerfish
I was thinking of making this for some time and in the end, procrastination won :(
I like longjing tea a lot (much more than Oolong and Jasmine). The best longjing tea leaves are like “gunpowder”, and once brewed in boiling/hot water, they expands to huge leaves! The tea is light and not as tannic. :)
Kok
RasaMalaysia,
I didn’t know LongJing tea is so expensive!
Wish you and your family a Merry X’mas and a Happy New Year!:)
lingzie
yet another simple but yummy recipe from you! i can’t wait to try it out! tea infused cuisine seems to be getting popular here (thanks to purple cane restaurants) but since they don’t have a branch in penang, guess i’ll have to cook my own tea dishes! thanks for the recipe! :)
MeiyeN
wow…. lovely dish! :)
wishing you and your loved ones a happy christmas! :)
Claude-Olivier
It looks so great….as usual ;-) I think it’s time to wish you a merry christas !!! Un très joyeux noel in french ;-) Cheers and drink a glass of good wine for me ^^!
Kate / Kajal
This is my hubbys most fav dish. The best is served at Ye Shanghai in Marco Polo , Hong Kong . Its all in the quality of the prawns. The rest is no effort at all. Simply fantastic for your taste buds. Gr8 dish Rasa.
Anonymous
Hi!
Do you interested link exchange with http://thaicookings.blogspot.com/
Regards
admin
admin
Hi!
Do you interested link exchange with http://thaicookings.blogspot.com/
Regards
admin
UnkaLeong
Wah…Isn’t that exspensive for tea?
maybahay
looks very fresh and delicious!
Anonymous
cool tips..i have long jing http://www.teacuppa.com i must make this..
lucia
mental jog
mmm… look so yummy!
since i love shrimp,i guess i would have love this dish (as i would have with any dish to do with shrimp).
i have not come across shrimp prepare with tea though. wine yes, but not tea.
Andaliman
RM, I would love to try this… I have the Shaoxing wine as well :) Thank you
Kevin
The shrimp look great and the Longjing tea sounds really interesting.
Anonymous
This looks very good and your pictures of this shrimp are fanstastic! Love it.