Ingredient: Dried shrimps
Category: Seafood
Season: All
Dried shrimp are shrimp that have been sun dried and shrunk to a thumbnail size.
They are used primarily in Chinese cuisine.
A unique umami taste is packed into each shrimp.
A handful of shrimp are generally used for dishes.
When cooked, the flavour is released as an ingredient.
Despite the literal meaning of the name "shrimp rice", it has nothing to do with rice other than the fact that the shrimp are shrunk to a tiny size similar to grains of rice.
These have lots of concentrated shrimp flavour, unlike tired and tasteless frozen prawns, which have no value at all.
They are available in oriental shops, but have only a short shelf life, about 4 weeks, so buy them in small quantities and keep them refrigerated.
They need to be soaked in hot water for 15 minutes before using.
Use
In Chinese cuisine, dried shrimp are used quite frequently for their sweet and unique flavour that is very different from fresh shrimp. They have the coveted umami flavour (or so-called "fifth taste").
Umami is one of the proposed five basic tastes sensed by specialized receptor cells present on the human tongue.
The same taste is also known as xiānwèi ; in Chinese cooking.
Umami is a Japanese word meaning "savory" or "deliciousness" and thus applies to the sensation of savoriness, specifically to the detection of the natural amino acid, glutamic acid, or glutamates common in meats, cheese and other protein-heavy foods.
The action of umami receptors explains why foods treated with monosodium glutamate (MSG) often taste "heartier". |
It is an ingredient in the Cantonese classic "XO" sauce.
Dried shrimp are also used in Chinese (mostly Cantonese) soups and braised dishes. It is also featured in Cantonese cuisine, particularly in some dim sum dishes such as rolled and rice noodle roll and in zongzi.
Zong, zongzi, or Chinese rice dumplings are a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves.
They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Laotians, Thais, Cambodians, and Vietnamese (bánh tro in Vietnamese language) also have similar traditional dishes influenced by zongzi |
Dried shrimp are also used in Korean cuisine, where they are soaked briefly to reconstitute them, and are then stir-fried with seasonings- typically garlic, ginger, scallions, soy sauce, sugar, and hot peppers- and served as a side dish. They are also used in some Korean braised dishes.
In Southeast Asia
In countries like Malaysia, shrimps are used to make a condiment called sambal udang (udang being the Malay word for prawns or shrimps).
In Southeast Asia, prawns and shrimps are distinguished by their size and therefore it is not practical to make sambal udang with prawns.
The Malay people developed sambal udang, which uses fresh shrimp and is wetter.
The Chinese living in Southeast Asia, especially those of Peranakan descent, developed sambal udang kering, which uses dried shrimp, is drier, and can be served as pub grub.
Most major supermarkets in Malaysia and Singapore sell fresh shrimp from which the shells have already been removed.
Dried shrimp is commonly used as a flavouring and as a soup base in Asian cuisines while fried shrimp is popular in North America.
In Europe, shrimp is very popular, forming a necessary ingredient in Spanish paella de marisco, French bouillabaisse, Italian cacciucco, Portuguese caldeirada and many other seafood dishes.
Shrimp curry is very popular in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
They are also found in Latin and Caribbean dishes such as enchiladas. |