Gluten-free Salt and Pepper Shrimp (Gluten-Free)

Celiac.com 09/15/2015 - A staple at many Chinese restaurants, salt and pepper shrimp are easy to make and sure to delight. They offer a nice spin on the standard grilled shrimp fare, and go great as an appetizer with your favorite gluten-free beer or beverage.

Ingredients:

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For the salt and pepper mixture:

• 2 parts whole peppercorns
• 1 part sea salt

For the rest of the dish:

• 1 pound large shrimp, shells on and deveined (with or without heads)
• 3 tablespoons potato starch or cornstarch
• 1/2 cup oil for frying
• salt and pepper mixture, to taste
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 long hot green or red pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 scallion, chopped

Directions:
First, you need to make the salt and pepper mixture.

Dry roast the whole peppercorns in a small pot over medium low heat for 15 minutes, until very fragrant. Adjust heat as needed to avoid burning the peppercorns.

Remove peppercorns from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, use a spice grinder, pepper mill, or mortar and pestle to pulverize the peppercorns.

In the same pot over medium heat, dry roast the salt until it turns slightly yellow in color. Let salt cool and combine with the ground pepper.

Save this salt and pepper combination for future cooking.

You're now ready to make the shrimp.

Rinse the shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel.

Dredge shrimp with potato starch, cornstarch or tapioca.

Heat the oil in a small cast iron skillet to 375F degrees.

Quickly lay the shrimp in the oil with about an inch of space in between each shrimp, and fry the shrimp in small batches, cooking each side for 30 seconds.

Remove cooked shrimp to a paper towel-lined plate, and sprinkle with salt and pepper powder to taste.

In the wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Fry the garlic until just golden brown, but Do NOT burn it! Set golden garlic to drain on paper towel lined plate.

Remove any excess oil from the wok, so you have just a tablespoon or so remaining.

Add the peppers to the wok.

Turn off the heat, and add the garlic back to the wok,

Stir-fry everything together for a minute.

Add the shrimp to the wok, and gently toss everything for 10-15 seconds, sprinkling with a bit more of the salt and pepper mixture.

Serve with your favorite gluten-free beer or beverage.