Shrimp With Quail Eggs

Posted byNoriePosted inRecipe, SeafoodTags:,

I had forgotten that this dish was one of my favorite Chinese dishes that my father and I used to cook when I was a very young adult.  This is one of the dishes that Papa and I experimented to cook after we had dined in a Chinese restaurant in Manila because we fell in love with it.  Papa had to kind of sweet-talked the Chinese cook to tell him the ingredients in the dish but not necessarily the recipe, which I doubt he would divulge willingly.

I just now thought of cooking this after over 40 years, unsure if my husband would even try it.  He looked over the stove to glance at what I was cooking.  Seeing the unfamiliar ingredients that I was putting together, he asked if we still had leftover red beans for his dinner.  I was a little agitated and told him that I was cooking his dinner.

When we sat down to eat, he asked many questions like what were those little egg looking things on top.  He hesitated for a moment and put a small portion on his plate.  After a few tastes he put some more on his plate and ate and ate, not bothering to eat rice with it.  Oh well, I excused him because he is a Gringo, but I was delightedly surprised that he ate almost the whole dish.

Remembering the ingredients and adding more, I tried to use some of my years of cooking experience to wing it because I have forgotten the recipe. It turned out better.

  • 1 lb. medium shrimp, shelled and deveined , with or without tails
  • 1 can Quail eggs, drained
  • 1 small can sliced mushrooms
  • 1 clove garlic, smashed
  • 1 small piece of ginger root, smashed
  • ½ medium onion sliced thinly (about ¼ cup)
  • 1 TBS sesame Oil
  • A few pieces of canned baby corn
  • 1 cup frozen Peas and Carrots
  • 1 can chicken broth
  • 2 TBS cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup water or broth
  • ½ cup cashews, toasted
  • 1 TBS Light Soy Sauce
  • 1 tsp. sugar or 2 tsp. Aji Mirin (Sweet rice wine seasoning)
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. Ground White Pepper
  • 1 TBS cooking oil

Heat the 1 TBS cooking oil in a wok or skillet.  Sauté the ginger root until lightly browned.  Remove ginger root from the skillet and discard. 

Sauté the garlic in the same oil until fragrant. Add the onion, sauté until transparent then add the sesame oil.  Drop in the shrimp and cook, stirring until slightly pink.  Add the broth and boil.  Add the soy sauce, salt, sugar or Aji Mirin and ground white pepper.  Add the vegetables and the mushrooms (drained) and cook for a few minutes until the frozen peas are tender. Add the pre-cooked quail eggs from the can (drained), simmer until eggs are heated through, about 2 minutes.

Add the dissolved cornstarch while still boiling and stir until thickened. Taste and adjust salt.  Add the cashews.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy with white rice.