The Shanghainese adore this you bao xia (油爆虾) , a Shanghai-style shrimp stir-fry is my preferred recipe for cooking whole shrimp.
You really don’t see this dish anywhere outside of the Zhejiang/Shanghai area. Zhejiang is famous for its seafood, as well as its ancient water towns like Zhou Zhuang (周庄), Wu Zhen (乌鎮) and Xi Tang (西塘). Fun fact: They filmed a good portion of Mission Impossible III in Xi Tang! If you ever travel to China, make a point to visit as least one of these ancient water towns. It’s extremely picturesque––all your photos will resemble ancient Chinese paintings!
I mention ancient water towns here because the right shrimp to use for this shrimp stir-fry dish are actually fresh water shrimp. I know most Shanghainese prefer them over the salt water variety. We’re just using regular shrimp from the ocean here in this recipe, since it’s the unique cooking method (not necessarily the origins of the main ingredient) that makes this particular shrimp stir-fry outstanding.
I found out that this was actually Bill’s first time tasting this You Bao Xia dish. As he was happily chowing down, he mentioned that it might even be tastier than our Salt and Pepper Shrimp recipe. And that’s pretty high praise, because I know how good those are. Just take one look at the color and texture of this dish…you can’t go wrong. It’s a shrimp stir-fry dish that will surely impress guests––even yourself!
You must use whole, shell-on shrimp for this stir-fry, preferably with the heads still in tact. Do not cut the shell open, or the shrimp will dry out. (We have a special method to devein the shrimp without damaging the outer shells!) One last tip, don’t peel off the shells until you taste the shrimp first. There’s a lot of flavor there, and who knows? You might decide to eat the whole thing.
You’ll need:
- 1 pound medium shrimp (size: 21/30)
- 1 cup oil, for frying
- 2 scallions, white portion only (save the green portion for another day)
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Salt, to taste
Start by preparing the shrimp. Using kitchen shears, trim off the legs and the sharp pointy part at the top of the head.
Then devein the shrimp by using a toothpick to carefully expose and pull it out, without damaging the shell (see the photo!). Rinse the shrimp thoroughly, drain, and pat dry with a paper towel.
Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Carefully lower the shrimp into the oil in two batches, frying gently for about 5 – 10 seconds with each batch.
The shrimp will go opaque very quickly.
Immediately scoop them out into a metal strainer, to drain excess oil back into the wok. Set the shrimp aside. With the first frying, shrimp will turn a light pink color as shown below.
Now, let the oil heat up again until it’s smoking. Lower the shrimp into the oil again (in two separate batches), and fry for another 5 – 10 seconds. The frying time varies depending on shrimp size––over frying will dry out the shrimp.
Scoop the shrimp out, and set aside. With the second frying, shrimp will turn deeper pink.
Turn off the heat and scoop out the oil into a heat-proof bowl, leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok. Turn the heat on to low and add in the scallion whites and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the Shaoxing wine, chicken broth, sugar and vinegar. Turn up the heat, so the mixture comes to a simmer. Stir for 30 seconds to reduce the sauce.
At this point, you can remove the scallions and ginger if you like and discard. Or you can leave them in the dish! We decided to take the aromatics out of the wok this time around.
Finally, add the shrimp back to the wok along with the sesame oil. Stir-fry for 5 seconds, until the shrimp are coated in the sauce.
Add salt to taste, and serve this Shanghai shrimp stir=fry (you bao xia) hot out of the wok!.
One More Tip: There is a lot of shrimp flavor in that frying oil! It’s perfect for use in our Shrimp Pad Thai, or our Shrimp Etouffee.
- 1 pound medium shrimp (size: 21/30)
- 1 cup oil, for frying
- 2 scallions, white portion only (save the green portion for another day)
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Salt, to taste
- Start by preparing the shrimp. Using kitchen shears, trim off the legs and the sharp pointy part at the top of the head. Then devein the shrimp by using a toothpick to carefully expose and pull it out, without damaging the shell (see the photo!). Rinse the shrimp thoroughly, drain, and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Carefully lower the shrimp into the oil in two batches, frying gently for about 5 - 10 seconds with each batch. The shrimp will go opaque very quickly. Immediately scoop them out into a metal strainer, to drain excess oil back into the wok. Set the shrimp aside.
- Now, let the oil heat up again until it's smoking. Lower the shrimp into the oil again (in two separate batches), and fry for another 5 - 10 seconds. The frying time varies depending on shrimp size––over frying will dry out the shrimp.
- Turn off the heat and scoop out the oil into a heat-proof bowl, leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok. Turn the heat on to low and add in the scallion whites and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the Shaoxing wine, chicken broth, sugar and vinegar. Turn up the heat, so the mixture comes to a simmer. Stir for 30 seconds.
- At this point, you can choose to remove the scallions and ginger from the wok, or simply leave them in there! Finally, add the shrimp back to the wok along with the sesame oil. Stir-fry for 5-10 seconds, until the shrimp are coated in the sauce. Add salt to taste, and serve.
Jos says
Dear Judy , very tasteful dish, have made it allready several times with big succeed, have only one problem. I am buying mine shrimps fresh, that means a live here on the market in shanghai, your cleaning start with cutting of the legs etc etc but these things are still moving. I read that shrimps has no feeling but when you start cutting they move even more, properly a reflect or something but how can you avoid it. Have tried to twist the head slightly but in most cases the head is coming of completely . Have put them just in the refrigerator for an hour but after that they are still moving. At the moment just put them in cold water with a drainage on top so they donot jump out and just wait an hour, most of them are than not moving any more but some still do. Any advise , I love shrimps and they are easy and quick to make only the cleaning part .
Judy says
Hi Jos, with live shrimp, you just rinse them under running water and cook them without cutting the backs open. They are usually pretty clean after “sitting” with the vendors for a day with nothing to feed on.
Little Cooking Tips says
Easy and delicious recipe Judy! Pinned! We usually eat the whole shrimp when they’re smaller and fried. Your method is very very interesting. One small question: in the last step you cooked the shrimp with some sesame oil AND the liquid from the onion and ginger, right?
Thank you for the amazing idea dear! We hope someday we’ll be able to visit China and go to those picturesque towns you mentioned:)
Thank you so much dear!
xoxoxo
Judy says
For the last step (which is so quick to do), the sauce needs the following ingredients:
2 scallions, white portion only (save the green portion for another day)
3 slices ginger
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt, to taste
Please let me know how you like it. ^o^
okiegirl says
Woohoo!!! I was at the Asian market today and they had head-on shrimp at a great price. Had other menu items planned so threw them in the freezer, but I’ll be back to trying this very soon. Can’t wait to see what difference that makes. (And bought enough to make the salt and pepper shrimp too. Good times ahead!)
Judy says
Sounds exciting, Judy! Just as a FYI, most supermarkets (including Asian supermarkets) sell defrosted shrimps. You really only should freeze shrimp once. Re-frozen shrimp can have a mushy texture.
okiegirl says
Made a smaller quantity of this for a “snack” this evening. Head-on shrimp makes all the difference!!! Yum yum.
Judy, yes, good reminder. In landlocked okieland we can get some fresh fresh-water fish (catfish, bass, etc.) but ALL seafood has been previously frozen. I always buy frozen unless I know I will use it the day of purchase.
Judy says
So WONDERFUL, Judy! I’m glad you got to try the recipe in its true “form.”
Sonja says
Hi Judy
I made this last Saturday and enjoyed every bite of it. It tasted delicious and is fast and easy to make. This is a recipe I definetly will make again and again :-). Thanks for sharing it with us.
Judy says
So awesome to hear comments like this! Thank you, Sonja!
Barry says
I made it last night and it was great. I liked the broth so much that next time I am going to double the broth and make a soup out of the recipe, and add asparagus. Two great dishes. Yes, the vinegar really makes this special.
Sabrina says
What gorgeous shrimp! Thank you for the tips on prepping and deveining the whole shrimp!
Judy says
Thank you, Sabrina!
Ronnie B. @ SipandSpice says
Do you have any idea how much you influence what I eat? I plan my meals according to new recipes from my favourite food blogs, and The Woks of Life is right up there. :)
I’ve got to try out this recipe. Tomorrow, Friday, evening I will have these prawns as a ‘biting’ with my beers followed by your recipe of Hong Shao Rou. Can life get any better?!
Judy says
Hi Ronnie, that’s a good problem to have! You are making me jealous!
okiegirl says
I’m salivating on my keyboard!!! This gets bumped to the top of my “to try” list.
It made me think of the first time I was served whole shrimp, heads and all: bbq shrimp at a famous restaurant in New Orleans. (I was in my 20’s then, and decline to say how very many decades ago that was.) I embarrassed my companion by immediately playing with my food, treating them like puppets and making them “talk” to each other. Ah, good times, good times.
Anyway, there’s a lot to be said for cooking shrimp with heads on. It adds tremendous flavor!
Judy says
Hi Judy, this is another winner, hope you give it a try soon.
okiegirl says
Made this today. It was (as all recipes here) very, very good, but it didn’t grab me any more than the usual stir fried or boiled shrimp I might make that take less time and prep. Two things possibly affected this: (1) today I was not able to find whole shrimp with heads; and (2) I didn’t pay attention and added the sesame oil to the sauce rather than at the end with the shrimp. My shrimp did not have the gorgeous color shown in the photos. What did I do wrong?
okiegirl says
That said, I don’t usually eat shrimp shells. With this recipe the shells were very crispy and absolutely delicious.
Judy says
Hi Judy, the shrimp heads definitely add that “glamorous” color and richness to the dish. Adding the sesame oil early shouldn’t affect the taste that much…you might have to reduce the sauce a bit more.
okiegirl says
Thanks, Judy! Not having head-on shrimp must be it. I’ll keep an eye out and next time I see some I’ll grab them and give this another try.
Judy says
Super! Thanks, Judy!
Mei says
Never tried shanghainese style shrimp.
When we were kids, my dad loved to cook shrimps with the shells on. We loved it , until we found out the vein was really not all that kosher . From then on it was just easier on the stomach to volunteer to shell and devein them.
No trouble at all dad, really . Easy Peasy .
A few years back .. We were making seafood boil. I was going to shell the shrimps, but my mom stopped me and show me, the toothpick method .
Lol …kudos to my mom . I wish she learned of this sooner.
I can’t wait to try making this dish. Cutting off the legs!! Great idea! ! It’s cleaner and easier on the eye .
Thanks Judy! !
Judy says
Great, Mei! Hope you will give this dish a try; it’s really tasty. That little bit of vinegar can do wonders.
Avery says
Oh, this looks heavenly! I can almost imagine the aromatic fragrance and flavourful taste of this divine dish. I just had prawns for Chinese New Year dinner too – the ones I ate were tempura-style though. All prawns are delicious, hehe. Thanks for the recipes :) I love checking out your blog! It’s almost like eating – I can’t do without it everyday!
Judy says
Thank you so much, Avery! Your love and support are greatly appreciated!