Photography by Antonis Achilleos for Sweet July Magazine, Spring 2020 Issue

Easy Shrimp Stir-Fry with Ginger Rice

By Sweet July

When it comes to quick and flavorful proteins, shrimp pretty much wins in all categories. It innately has a delicious, sweet flavor, but easily transforms and adapts to a range of different flavor profiles.

Serves: 4

Time: 35 minutes

But it’s best quality by far is that it takes just minutes to cook, making it the perfect weeknight go-to.

This dish combines a gorgeous sauce with fresh ginger and garlic, which coats the shrimp and perfectly crisp vegetables. While a standard jasmine rice will certainly do the trick, we’ve upped the flavor by infusing the rice with some of the same aromatics in the sauce. It’s a game changer, and we’ll apologize in advance if you’re now unable to eat rice any other way.

Ingredients

- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger, divided
- 4 tsp finely chopped garlic, divided
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed strings, strings removed
- 3 baby red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 3 baby yellow bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 pound extra-large (16/20 count) peeled, deveined raw shrimp
- Sliced green onion, optional
- Black sesame seeds, toasted, optional

Instructions

step 1

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon grated ginger and 1 tablespoon chopped garlic, and sauté until fragrant. Add the rice, and stir to coat, letting it gently toast, about 3 minutes. Add the water and a pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring once; reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes.

step 2

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, sesame oil and red pepper flakes.

step 3

In a large nonstick skillet, warm the vegetable oil over medium-high. Add the sugar snap peas and bell peppers, and sauté until tender-crisp, 2 to 3 minutes.

step 4

Add the shrimp and cook just until pink, about 2 minutes. Add remaining ginger and garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the sauce; remove from heat.