Ingredients:

30 large shrimp (see directions for frozen shrimp)
2 T olive oil
1 T garlic, minced
several twists of the black pepper grinder
1 twist of the salt grinder
2 T butter

Directions:

Peel and devein the shrimps, place them in a bowl and stir in the olive oil and garlic. Set this in the refrigerator. Always keep your fresh shrimps cold until it’s time to cook.

about 10 minutes before dinner, set a wok over high heat. When the wok is very hot indeed, add the butter. Once it melts and sizzles up nicely, pour the shrimp into the wok

Stir with two wok spoons for one minute. Use all your senses when cooking. Now you should notice the raw shrimp aroma – that will come in handy later.

Reduce the heat to medium high.

Continue to wok, stirring slowly until the shrimps change in appearance from translucent to opaque white or pink and curl up into the pretty circular shapes as seen in the photo.

Once they curl up, spread the shrimp out into an even layer in the wok and wait 20-30 seconds. This lets the shrimp stay in contact with the pan just long enough that it will take on pretty browned bits. Then stir and repeat until they brown a bit.

Check the aroma. The raw fragrence should be gone and by the time the shrimp looks like the photo, they will be done and still juicy.

Precisely how long this takes will depend upon how hot your wok was when you poured the shrimp in and how big your shrimps were. You will wok anywhere from 6-10 minutes. If you did not trust me about starting on high and instead set the wok on medium high and if your shrimps were very big, it may take a few minutes longer.

With practice you can trust your nose and the appearance of the shrimps. For those that are hesitant to be so trusting, cut one open if you like to make sure it’s white throughout. Do take care to not overcook the shrimps so they do not dry out.

Directions for using frozen shrimps, thaw them by running them under cold water for a few minutes til  they thaw. Pat them dry. Make sure all the veins have been removed as they tend to remain far too often in frozen bags as the cuts are not deep enough. Likely done by machine instead of by hand and that can be a problem. Add the oil and butter to the hot wok, sprinkle the shrimps with pepper and salt. Add the garlic, wok constantly for a few seconds (not too long, ok? do not burn the garlic). Add the shrimps, and wok until they are as described above.

Enjoy!