Ma Po Shrimp

OK, so Ma Po Shrimp isn't an authentic Chinese dish, but it was my spin on one. Ma Po is a Szechuan dish consisting of tofu, minced meat (usually beef), in a spicy sauce. I made Ma Po Tofu a few weeks ago and liked it so much that I wanted to make it for Jon. He doesn't like tofu, so I decided to try it with shrimp.

Jon thought this was one of the best dishes I have made for him in a while. It had a lot of heat - just how he likes it!


Ingredients

• 1/2 pound shrimp, deveined and cleaned
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 8 oz chicken broth
• 1-2 tbsp chili paste; this stuff is hot so it's up to you how much you use
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 oz chicken broth

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat; add garlic and onions, saute til tender
• Add chili paste, soy sauce, and chicken broth; let simmer for 5 minutes
• Add shrimp, cooking 1-2 minutes on each side until pink (since Jon likes heat I added another 1/2 tsp of chili paste with the shrimp)
• Stir in the cornstarch mixture to thicken sauce
• Serve over rice

I'm so happy that Jon loved this dish. I'll be adding it to the rotation.

I served it with garlic snow peas. I heated 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan, added 2 cloves of chopped garlic, and then added the snow peas. I sauteed them for 5 minutes until tender but still slightly crispy. They were the perfect side for this dish.