This garlic honey shrimp brings me back to my childhood. Growing up in LA I was surrounded by amaaaaaazing international food. But one of my favorite memories is shopping and having lunch in Chinatown with my mom and grandmother. We would head out early in the morning. The stores were just opening, and overflowing with gorgeous little treasures. Ornate plates and chopsticks, colorful boxes you could fill with all your precious little trinkets, ceramic elephant stools painted in the most vibrant of colors, and rare teas and spices.

After shopping we would always go to the same spot for lunch. Moo shu pork, fried rice, garlic honey shrimp and fried bananas.

This recipe for garlic honey shrimp is like taking a trip back in time — loaded with flavor, but only takes a few minutes to get it on the table.

Serve over jasmine or sticky rice and with a side of these sticky sweet green beans for an easy weeknight dinner.

lightly adapted from Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings, Hungry for More

Ingredients

2 medium oranges
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and Pepper
3 tablespoons peanut oil (you can also use grapeseed oil, wok oil or canola oil)
3 cloves garlic, minced (for extra kick use 6 cloves garlic, minced)
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and pith removed, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and pith removed, diced
2 scallions, whites thinly sliced and greens cut into 2 inch lengths
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to cut the spice a bit, use 1/2 teaspoon)
Cooked rice for serving — either jasmine or sticky
lime wedges, optional

Instructions

Use a vegetable peeler and peel off a 1-inch wide strip of zest from 1 orange. Set aside.
Grate the zest from half the orange. Set the zest aside.
Juice the 2 oranges and add juice to a glass measuring cup. You should have a bit over 1/2 cup of juice.
Whisk in the honey, soy sauce and vinegar. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the honey soy mixture with 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Use a small whisk to thoroughly combine.
Stir cornstarch mixture back into the measuring cup with the honey soy mixture. The cornstarch is what will help the sauce thicken when you cook it.
Pat the shrimp dry and lay out on a large sheet pan. Season both sides well with salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 teaspoon of oil over medium high heat. When it starts to shimmer (but not smoke), add the shrimp in an even layer.
Cook until shrimp turns bright pink on the bottom. Then carefully turn shrimp until the other side also turns bright pink.
Transfer cooked shrimp to plate.
Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoon of oil to the skillet. Add in the garlic, ginger, orange and yellow bell peppers, scallion whites, and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 1 -2 minutes until the ingredients become fragrant and peppers become tender.
Add the honey soy liquid and the strip (NOT THE ZEST) of the orange. Stir until the sauce thickens. This should take about 1-2 minutes.
Return shrimp to skillet, add scallion greens and toss to coat with the sauce.
Put some rice into each bowl.
Top with shrimp and garnish with a few sprinkles of orange zest.
I'm a huge fan of citrus, and love adding a squeeze of lime juice.

Have you made this recipe?I’d love to know! Leave a comment or recipe rating and tag me @amenuforyou on social media!

Garlic Honey Shrimp

lightly adapted from Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings, Hungry for More