Asian Caramelized Shrimp and Miracle Fruit (and stinky ingredients)

Hi everyone. My friend Josh just sent me this amazing article about a “miracle fruit”. It’s actually a berry that affects your taste buds in such a way that everything you eat after it tastes sweet. It smacks of Willy Wonka but it is for real. Imagine getting your kids to eat spinach without a struggle every night. I am definitely going to try and get my hands on this. Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html

Here is a recipe that calls for fish sauce, one of the nastiest smelling ingredients on the planet. When it is used in Thai cooking, however, it tastes distinctively Thai and delicious. This is a favorite of mine and my brother Andrew. Andrew uses another name for this dish (because of the smell) but I am too proper a blogger to write it here…Enjoy!

Asian Caramelized Shrimp:

Caramel Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup water

1 lb med. shrimp or 15 large shrimp
2 tsp finely chopped garlic
2 tsp canola oil
1/2 small onion, sliced
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1-2 tsp chili oil
3 scallions cut into 1 inch pieces

First prepare caramel sauce. In a small saucepan, combine sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Heat oil in wok or fying pan over high heat until just smoking. Add the garlic and onions and stir fry until golden-don’t let burn! Add the shrimp, pepper, 2 TBS of caramel sauce and the chili oil and cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat shrimp, about 2 minutes. Reserve remaining sauce for later use or add to this dish.

Add the scallions and stir fry whole thing for about 30 seconds. Serve on a bed of lettuce or with rice.