Honey Walnut Shrimp

A "Hong Kong Style" Chinese recipe! Crispy batter-fried shrimp tossed in a creamy sauce and topped with sugar coated walnuts. One of my family's favorite dishes.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  lb large shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined
• 1⁄2 cup walnuts, more if you really like them
• 5  cups water
• 1  cup sugar
• 2 -3  cups  oil
• 1⁄2 cup cornstarch
• 1⁄2 cup  egg white
• 2  tablespoons honey
• 1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon Accent seasoning (optional)
• 1  tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons  condensed milk

Directions

1. Start by rinsing the walnuts, then boil in water, changing water a couple of times. The goal is to have clear water but it takes way too long. When tired of changing the water add sugar and boil until sugar dissolves. Drain walnuts.
2. On high, heat 2 cups oil until almost smoking, lower to medium heat and deep fry walnuts until they're shiny and brown, no longer golden. It takes a little while before they actually burn but keep an eye on them. Place walnuts on cookie sheet, let cool. I make extra because they are delish and I ate quite a few while prepping the shrimp. Keep the oil to cook the shrimp later.
3. Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to form a thick, sticky texture. Do not over mix, if too smooth and soupy add some more cornstarch. Add peeled, deveined shrimp and coat well.
4. The mix will be a bit runny. This mixture, when fried, will be like a tempura type coating on the shrimp and should be crispy like fried chicken or something like it.
5. Next prepare the sauce, by combining the honey, lemon juice, mayonnaise salt, accent, and condensed milk. I found that there's not really a lot of sauce for the shrimp but if you don't want it very saucy this is a good coating. Otherwise increase the amount of honey, lemon juice, mayonnaise and condensed milk; or just add a little more condensed milk if you just want a bit more sauce. The mayonnaise and condensed milk really make the sauce.
6. Now it's time to fry up the shrimp. Use the same oil from frying the walnuts but add more oil to make sure you cover the shrimp. Heat the oil up on high and turn down a bit when it starts to smoke. I recommend cooking the shrimp in at least 2 batches to ensure the tempura-like batter cooks and gets crispy. Do not cover as it will steam the batter and shrimp. Drain the shrimp of excess oils. Once done frying the shrimp add to the sauce and coat well. Top off with the walnuts and serve.
7. Variation: You can use cut up chicken instead of the shrimp. Deep fry until cooked and crisp.