Sausage Fingers and Shrimp Shells
This is simply called "red shrimp" | 红虾 in my family. The ease with which to make it is completely negated by how hard it is to eat it. I assure you that it is worth the time though. White Boyfriend loves red shrimp, but his sausage fingers are inadequate for daintily removing the shells--or perhaps he feigns helplessness so that I have to peel the whole damn bowl. That's ok though, because that means I get to suck all the heads--which is the best part.
It is imperative you purchase shrimp with heads. Refer to last sentence of previous paragraph if this is unclear. I don't recall my mom ever deveining the shrimp so I don't do it. This seems like something Americans are more concerned with.
Get everything chopped up before you start, because the rest is going to happen fast.
Cooking in a wok is a beautiful thing. Make sure yours has a heavy bottom--you know you've got a cheap wok if it came with a wooden spatula or other accoutrement. Heat up oil in your expensive wok and swirl the ginger around the bottom. Drop the shrimp in and gently stir so the heads don't all come off. Some will inevitably, but this is fine because the delicious "mustard" inside will flavor your broth. As soon as the shrimps go into the wok you're in a race against time to put all the rest of the ingredients in before the shrimps turn completely pink. This is to ensure you don't overcook them.
The broth that's coming together will be wonderfully fragrant. Coat the shrimp with it as you stir and immediately remove from heat when everything is incorporated and cooked through. A little bit of that sauce will go a long way over some rice. Settle into a chair with a large plate for your shrimp shells and dig in. Hopefully you didn't cook for an invalid with sausage fingers.
For the straight-up red shrimp recipe, click here.