Filipino Shrimp in Coconut Milk

Chef filippina-italian's Note:

This is a recipe that I invented for my diploma work for high school level. Since I am half Filipino and concerned with health and good eating, I thought it would be interesting to take a filippino recipe (michado, although it has nothing to do with michado now!) and try to make it as healthy and as traditional as possible. I love philippino food and really wanted to keep the essence of filippino cooking in this. As always in filippino cooking, the amounts are approximate, so change as you like! You can also take the mini sweet potato recipe and put it with other dishes. Tell me what you think!

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 300 -500 g shrimp , raw (shelled or not)
• 1 large sweet potato , cut into strips
• 2 medium carrots , cut into strips
• 2 medium white bell peppers , cut into strips
• 500 ml coconut milk
• 250 ml water
• 1 tablespoon ginger , sliced thinly in rounds
• 1 tablespoon garlic , sliced thinly
• ½ cup fish sauce
• lemon
• 2 cups white rice
• 4 cups water (for rice)

Directions:

1. Rice: 2 cups water to 1 cup rice. In a pot, boil, lower temperature to low, until there is no more water (approx 40 minutes). Keep covered the entire time, you may look inside to see when it is cooked. Stir with a fork when cooked. If you start cooking the rice before doing any of the rest, it should be done at the same time as the rest.
2. Peel and cut sweet potato into strips (like thin fries). Peeling takes a while, so set a little time before apart. Cut other vegetables into strips as well. Slice up ginger and garlic, remembering to take off all the skin.
3. In a wok, heat 6 tbsp of oil over medium high . (This may seem like a lot of oil, but there 1 sweet potato makes a lot of fries.) Add sweet potato, stir fry until soft, NOT MUSHY. Set aside on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
4. Keep the oil and fry ginger and garlic until lightly golden. Add shrimp and fry quickly until pink. Add a bit more oil if necessary. SHRIMP COOKS VERY QUICKLY, SO DON'T OVERDO IT. Unless you want chewing gum in your meal --.
5. Once the shrimp is pink, add coconut milk, fish sauce and remaining vegetables. Boil, simmer until vegetables are cooked, again DO NO OVERCOOK. It's important to keep a slight crunch to the vegetables.
6. Serve over rice with sweet potato, season generously with lemon.