Kung Pao Shrimp Stir Fry Recipe

If you like spicy food and quick weeknight dinner recipes, this kung pao shrimp stir fry recipe from food stylist and recipe developer Michelle McGlinn should be right up your alley! This recipe combines a spicy sauce, vermicelli noodles, and shrimp to make a dish that really brings some heat to the dinner table. "The heat comes from both the Thai peppers and Sichuan peppercorns," McGlinn says. "It's a bold heat, but not too much that it overpowers the delicate shrimp."

Sichuan peppercorns are an essential ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. The dried berries from the prickly ash tree are an essential ingredient in five spice powder, a common ingredient in Chinese cuisine. "The Sichuan peppercorns add more of a tingling mouthfeel than a spicy heat," McGlinn says.

Thanks to the minimal cooking time of vermicelli noodles and shrimp minimal cooking time, you can get this dish on the table in under half an hour. Let's get started!

To make this kung pao shrimp stir fry, you'll need 1 pound of shrimp, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, minced garlic cloves, 2 scallions, and cooking oil. You'll also need minced ginger, Thai chilis, a red bell pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, and 8 ounces of vermicelli rice noodles

Toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a skillet until they are fragrant, or about 1 minute. "Toasting the peppercorns changes their flavor. I don't recommend skipping this or the dish may taste strangely acidic to you," McGlinn says.

Once the peppercorns are sufficiently toasted, grind them into a fine powder. If you don't have a spice grinder, McGlinn suggests using a mortar and pestle and making sure to grind the peppercorns into a fine dust in order to avoid a gritty mouthfeel.

Soften the vermicelli noodles in a bowl of hot water for 2 to 3 minutes. After the noodles are soft, drain the water from the bowl.

According to McGlinn, these noodles do not need to be cooked in boiling water. "There's no need to boil this kind of noodle," she says. "It softens to al dente in hot water, and pretty quickly, at that!"

Whisk the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ground peppercorns together in a bowl. Add a dash of water and whisk until the cornstarch has fully dissolved.

If you like a dish with a lot of sauce, McGlinn suggests doubling ingredients for this part of the recipe, with one caveat. "Remember to add a splash or two of water — this dilutes the soy sauce a bit and helps dissolve the cornstarch," she says.

Add cooking oil to a large wok or skillet and cook the shrimp over medium heat. Add the shrimp to the pan in a single layer and cook them until they are opaque and pink on both sides. If you need to, feel free to add more oil to your wok or skillet.

Shrimp cooks very quickly, and McGlinn warns against overcooking the shrimp, saying, "To avoid overcooking, flip the shrimp just as you see pink around the edges, then take them off the heat as soon as they are opaque all over. They'll finish cooking when you toss them with the noodles, so don't be afraid of pulling them off a little early!"

Add the garlic, ginger, Thai chili peppers, and scallions to the pan, and cook until they are soft and fragrant, or around 1 minute. Then add the bell pepper to the pan and cook until it is soft, or for about 3 additional minutes.

Add the sauce to the skillet and stir until it has thickened, or about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the softened noodles to the pan and toss them with the sauce and vegetables. Add the shrimp and toss them with the noodles and vegetables until the shrimp has heated through.

Once you've combined all the ingredients and warmed up the shrimp, your kung pao shrimp stir fry is ready to serve! Serve this stir fry with the chopped green scallions, and if you're worried about the spice level, McGlinn also recommends serving this dish with a few lime wedges.

According to McGlinn, this dish makes excellent leftovers, provided that you store them correctly. "Vermicelli noodles get soggy pretty quickly, but with a light sauce, I find that they keep in the fridge okay for about a week," McGlinn says. "The peppers are actually what tend to make them mushy, so if you can, store the bell peppers on one side of the container and the noodles on the other."