Asian Pasto with Shrimp Pasta

In Chinese cooking, ginger plays a very important role in accompanying seafood, as it helps to take away excessive fishy odor, it also infuses nicely into seafood.  ( a couple slices ginger will work like charm.  the longer you cook ginger the more spicy you will get.)  The heat from ginger stimulates the blood, and keeps the body warm, especially on a cold rainy day.  Simply place ginger slices in the water,  bring to the broil,  then add the light or dark brown sugar to your own sweetness, serve ginger soup hot,  it's a old fashion way to avoid the cold.  

Asian pesto






















Ingredients:

1.  3 inch long ginger, skin off , rough chopped.

2.  4 scallion rough chopped

3.  1/4 cup almond or cashew

4.   2 star anise

5.  1/4 cup vegetable oil
6.  1/2 lemon juiced 

7.  Salt and white pepper

Put ginger, scallion, and almond,  in a food processor and grind it fine.

In a sauce pan, place cold oil with star anise and heat it up until the aroma comes out and the oil is hot (don't burn the star anise).  Throw away the star anise, drizzle flavored oil on top of pesto, stir a bit (Hot oil will cook all the ingredients, infuse the flavor, and keep the color bright.) Squeeze in lemon juice, add in salt and white pepper, mix well.  Good with any seafood or chicken!


Shrimp Asparagus with Asian pesto

















Ingredients:

1. 1 box spaghetti cooked.

2. 30 large size shrimps

3. 10 asparagus bend tough parts out chopped them to 2 inch length.

Flavor:

1.  5 garlic cloves mince

2.  1 lemon halved.

3.  1/2 cup white wine.

4.  1/2 cup chicken broth.

5.  Salt and white pepper, to taste.
6.  2-3 tablespoon Asian pesto.

7.  2 scallion diced.

8. 1/2 cup of cilantro chopped coarsely.

Peel the shell off but save for the broth, and open the back of the shrimp from head to tail with knife, clean the dirt with water, then pat it dry with paper towel, season salt and white pepper.   ( Shell fish goes bad quickly, so if I couldn't get fresh of the day, I use frozen shrimp with shells on because they have been frozen right after caught, as close to fresh as you can get, plus the shell has lots flavor for the sauce.)

Prepare a sauce pan, by adding the shrimp shell in the chicken broth, bring it to the broil about 5 minutes, and set aside.
Heat up another large pan with lightly oil coated the pan (about 1-2 tablespoon) to smoking hot, place shrimps and brown them on one side than another, when two sides are done, but inside still uncooked squeeze the juice from 1/2 lemon on top the shrimps, then take the shrimp to a  plate.  Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to sauce pan and put in the garlic, saute until light brown, Then add wine and chicken broth,  put back the shrimps, salt and pepper, bring to broil,  add in the cooked pasta,  mix well, let pasta absorbs almost all the sauce, with some sauce left at the bottom of the pan.  ( Cook the pasta a little bit less done than the texture that you like, finish with the sauce that you are preparing.  It's Chinese technique to flavor the noodle.)  kill the heat, add in 2 to 3 tablespoons Asian pesto, mix well, squeeze the other half of lemon juice, sprinkle diced scallion and cilantro for the best  the freshness. 

This is a light, but flavorful dish.  Goes well with chilled white wine or light beer.  Great for hot summer day!