Shrimps With Bell Peppers and Cheese Sauce

Submitted by Zurie

"It's easy and tasty! It's slightly different from the usual shrimp recipes. I felt like a light cheesy sauce, and this is what developed. Prep time does not include time perhaps needed for cleaning shrimps."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 lbs large shrimp, headless (1 kg)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes, dried, hot
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon lime juice or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• oil (for frying)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup milk (250 ml)
• 2 cups mild cheese, grated (I used Tilsiter and a young, mild Pecorino)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Start with the shrimps: depending on how you bought them, they might need picking over or peeling. Try to keep tails on. Rinse well.
2. Remove seeds and ribs from bell peppers and cut flesh into bite-sized pieces. Peel and chop the onion. (Use any colour bell peppers you have).
3. Use a wok over a high flame: it's easiest. Fry the onions and peppers in oil, stirring often, until they are soft and "reduced" and threatening to burn - about 20 minutes. During the frying, sprinkle in the dried hot pepper flakes.
4. The wok should be quite hot at this stage, so add all the cleaned shrimps in one go. You might have to add more oil.
5. Stir, moving the shrimps around, until they have all become pinky white and curled up.
6. (If you feel the wok would be too crowded, remove the pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add a little more oil, heat well, and then cook the shrimps on their own).
7. Don't overcook the shrimps. While they're cooking, add the fish and oyster sauce, and the lime or lemon juice.
8. When shrimps are cooked, take wok off heat. If you removed the pepper-onion mixture, stir back into shrimps.
9. In another medium pot, whisk the flour into the milk, put over a high heat, and keep whisking until milk boils and thickens a little.
10. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese until it melts and the sauce is smooth. (Cheese do not like being boiled). Stir in the nutmeg, garlic and salt.
11. Add this cheese sauce to the shrimp mixture and fold in well.
12. Remove to an oven dish, cover, and keep warm until needed. You could garnish it with snipped spring onions or chives.
13. Nice served with brown basmati rice. I also cooked chopped green beans to which I added 1 wheel, crumbled, of feta cheese.
14. *The cheese: I used two mild cheeses; felt as if cheddar would be too strong. Use whatever you have, or cheese bits you need to use up.

Reviews

[Dishwasher]

My wife made this last night, which was cold and overcast. So she told me to do the review! (I think she's slowly seducing me into the kitchen through Zaar ... One of these days I might be able to make more than just fried eggs!) But how to do a review, if one still can't cook for toffee?? This dish was great, and easy to make, too, DW said. She had 2 red peppers only, but maybe that added to the colour! She'd bought the real Mozambican prawns (at a price!!) She says she followed the recipe as she had all the ingredients, except she used Parmesan as the pecorino described is hard to find. She added some chopped parsley at the end. It was really delicious and shall be made again! We had it with one of those oval Continental breads from our local bakery, and with a salad with lots of avo in it, as a starter. Thanks, Zurie! (I hope this sounds like a cook's review).