Kung Pao Shrimp

• 配料:
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cup long grain white rice
• ³⁄₄ cup chick­en broth
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tsp. sugar
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. Szech­wan peppercorns
• ¹⁄₄ tsp. salt
• 1 lb. broc­coli flo­rets, rinsed and cut into 1‑inch pieces
• 1 tsp. veg­etable oil
• 1 tbsp. fresh gin­ger, minced
• 2 tsp. minced gar­lic
• 1 lb. shelled, deveined shrimp
• ¹⁄₄ cup chopped roast­ed peanuts 

Where the Hell Am I Gonna Find Szechwan Peppercorns?

Most gourmet-type shops or a Pen­zey’s or Spice of Life will prob­a­bly have some, but they tend to car­ry dinky lit­tle half-ounce jars. Szechuan pep­per­corns are wicked hot (you need only half a tea­spoon to heat up this recipe), but it’s eas­i­er to order a larg­er sup­ply online, like the 3‑cup bag at Savory Spice, which will last quite a while. It’s worth the has­sle to get the real thing!

Now back to our reg­u­lar recipe instructions:

In a 2–3 quart pan, com­bine rice and 2 ³⁄₄ cup water. Bring to boil over high heat and cook until most of the water is absorbed, 7–10 min­utes. Turn heat to low and cov­er, cook until rice is ten­der to bite. (10−15 min­utes). Spoon rice into a bowl.

Mean­while, in a small bowl, mix broth, soy sauce, vine­gar, corn­starch, sug­ar, chili flakes, and salt until smooth.

In a 12-inch non-stick fry­ing pan or 14-inch wok over high heat, com­bine broc­coli and ¹⁄₂ cup water. When boil­ing, cov­er and reduce heat to medi­um and sim­mer, stir­ring occa­sion­al­ly, until broc­coli is bright green and just ten­der when pierced, about 4–7 min­utes. Pour into colan­der to drain.

Add oil, gin­ger, and gar­lic to pan. Stir over high heat until gar­lic begins to brown, 30–45 sec­onds. Add shrimp and stir until opaque but still moist look­ing in cen­ter of thick­est part (3−4 min­utes). Stir in broccoli.

Stir in corn­starch mix­ture until sauce boils. Pour shrimp into bowl and sprin­kle with peanuts. Serve with rice.