Category: Writing

Salt and Pepper Shrimp with the Heads and A Story

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The past week I have been taking a online writing workshop called Romancing The Palate. Some of you know I am working on a foodie based romance . The whole genre is new to me and I’m learning a lot from a great group of writers. The teacher of the workshop is “Becca” , who I really got to know this fall as we entered a Mills and Boon competition. She’s a  wealth of info with some great blogs.

I decided to post one of my assignments , a piece about eating one of my favorite dishes ,Salt and Pepper Shrimp and the process of eating it. Debate is rampant on the best way eat this dish. I’m old school and like it the traditional Chinese way with the head on. Because any good chef knows the flavor is  in the shells, bones, and other nasty bits. Look at this beautiful oil after I fried the shrimp. That’s all that inner roe and shell in the head infusing the oil with flavor. If you want to be a wimp , take off the head, but keep that shell ON! First the story and then the recipe.

Amuse Bouche

It’s Better With The Head On

“Come on” Alexandre pulled Sidra up from the bed. It was Sunday and they were lazing around after a particularly brutal Saturday evening service at Le Boite. Normally either Alexandre or Sidra would make some breakfast and French pressed coffee, to be in bed. Classic traditional continental breakfast with the best pastry and breads from the best restaurant in London.

“We need to do some research in Soho, Chinatown for a new concept I’m working on.” Alexandre said playfully with a hint a promise.

“New concept?” Sidra pulled the sheets up over head, reluctant to leave the confines of the billowy goose down bedding. She could still smell the sandalwood scent of him on the sheets as she squinted against the sun beaming onto the room. They had been serious about each other for some months now, and she loved their normal laid back ritualistic Sundays. As their romance was not yet public, Sidra had reservations about being seen with the hottest playboy chef in London, traipsing around So Ho. Anyone could spot them as Alexandre was a household name. She could just envision the Daily Mail.

Alexander and Sidra quickly got dressed. Their style was a pared down elegance that the French mastered for eons. Sidra, a quick study, followed suit. She needed no makeup as she glowed. She was in love and just where she wanted to be. Work, love, all conjoining into the perfect flow. It showed on Alexandre too. He felt alive, inspired, and for the first time, really in touch what and who he wanted. No room for games or ego here. Could it be Sidra tamed the fiery chef?

They entered a small nondescript restaurant called Madame Changs. The sounds of various dialects of Chinese filled the air, and the menus written on the wall were not in English. The clanks, whooshes of steam, and sizzling hisses from the kitchen, could be heard at their table. An elderly lady, who was perhaps Madame Chang herself, greeted Alexandre warmly. They seemed to be old friends.

“You let me choose what you will eat today Alexandre?”, said Madame Chang.

“My taste buds are in your hands”, said Alexandre with relish.

The first dish was presented with flourish. To start, large fried shrimps with heads on were seductively arranged on bed of chilies and peppers. Each shrimp is fried and coated in a crispy batter, with the shells and head left intact, with a sprinkle of some spicy Schezwan salt and cracked black pepper.

“I have had salt and pepper squid, but the shrimp always wins as my favorite.” Alexandre said excitedly as he waved his hand in a flourish to take in the garlicky aroma of the sizzling shrimp that just left the wok.

Sidra’s mouth started to water. She could just taste the tiny bits of fried garlic and hot chilies of the red and green varieties are tossed with shrimp and finished with a boost of briny soy sauce. With her bare fingers, she took a shrimp straight from the dish, ignoring the white rice just being served. Alexandre looked at her as she licked the entire shell and suck off the crispy fried batter and pieces of the peppers sticking to it.

“I see you are no stranger to Salt and Pepper Shrimp? “, he grinned at her sexy yet youthful appreciation of the food. “Finally a woman who is not afraid to eat and enjoy”, he said as he dug in.

Sidra took the head off gingerly with her fingers and sucked at it. The taste of salty garlic with a tinge of spice overwhelms her mouth.  She then ripped a solid lump of mild sweet white flesh of the shrimp from the shell. Each piece of fried morsel is a gem to her mouth. Before she could repeat the process, she licks her fingers clean, not wanting to waste a bit of it all. Oil, salt and spice cling to them. Forget the chopsticks.

All Alexandre could do was beam with pride. Someone not afraid to tackle salt and pepper shrimp with the heads on.

Madame Chang came over to check on her favored guests. She looked down at the discarded heads of shrimp with respect.

“I like her Alexandre. The flavor is in the head”, she purred.

“She eats it like a true Chinese person.” she said with a wink as she brought the rest of the Dim Sum .

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Salt and Pepper Shrimp

Serves 2 as main course or 4 as a starter

  • 1 lb fresh shrimp with the head on. ( If you choose to leave the head off, leave the shell intact but cut down back to de-vein)
  • 1 1/2 cups rice flour
  • Peanut or vegetable oil for frying
  • 2 jalapenos peppers or chili peppers sliced and chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped sweet red peppers sliced and chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • Kosher salt and Black Pepper or  Sichuan peppercorns
  1. Prep your space with all the ingredients ready to go and chopped.
  2. Toast peppercorns in a dry skillet to release flavor. Crush  with fingers or use a food grinder to blend with your Kosher salt.
  3. Cut the long ‘whiskers’ off the shrimp. Wash shrimp.
  4. In a Ziploc bag  add the rice flour and shrimp. Shake to coat.
  5. Heat your oil until high in your wok.
  6. At the frying point add the shrimp and few at a time. Fry until pink and remove with slotted spoon to a platter.
  7. The oil will start to turn pink as the inner shrimp and shell infuses the oil with flavor and color.
  8. Once all shrimp are fried, remove all but a few tablespoons of the oil.
  9. In the hot wok with the reserved bit of oil , toss in the chopped garlic, onions, peppers/chilies. Stir Fry for a bit.
  10. Add some peppercorn and salt mixture to taste.
  11. Add shrimp back  into skillet and adjust with more peppercorn and salt. Toss until the shrimps are coated with the garlic, onions, peppers/chilies, salt, etc
  12. Serve with rice or on a bed of shredded lettuce.

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Scratching the Surface of San Francisco on Ebony Online

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Read about my weekend trip to San Francisco from a foodie from a foodie perspective on Ebony online.

Presenting Coco The Magazine…Some things You Just Have To Make Happen.

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When I was child, even before magazine editors became household words, I always loved and collected magazines. Stacks and stacks of sophisticated magazines on Food and Fashion from all over the world. Other kids had games, and I had my Vogue , Gourmet , Vanity Fair, etc. I knew somehow, someway, I was going to get in those magazines some day or become a part of it. And surprisingly I did. I can count three times, in my socialite days here in Chicago, my photo made some publications .Not a big deal, but fun and exciting. Then I started writing  my blog and loved seeing the process unfold. I even got asked to write some more here and there. All this was great but where was it leading to personally and financially? In the blogging world I see a lot of great people get the deals to go on TV and write books. I’m still waiting but I try and I stay in the game because I do love it, whether it amounts to much or not. It’s about personal satisfaction at this stage in life. And sometimes in order to be satisfied you gotta take the bull by its horns. And that’s what I’m doing, by making my own magazine.
But first, here is a little back story. A few months ago, a friend who I worked with asked me to help out her friend with a last minute interview on her radio show. Ogi, the shows hostess , was a entrepreneurial woman who had her own boutique and was passionate about what she did. As what happens with bumps in the road of life, she had to reconvene and figure out another avenue to go on. She decided to launch her magazine. You may have seen me mention it. It’s called Hush, and I contribute food content. Just witnessing the pride and joy in creating this magazine got me thinking and inspired. It seems we both inspired each other. Perhaps that why we met? Why can’t I have a magazine too, based solely on things that matter to me. I have only seen maybe one or two food bloggers do this, and mine still is unique in concept. I also wanted hard copy, as opposed to electronic copy. I suppose that’s weird in this age, but one can’t deny the appeal  and intimacy of paper in hand. I wanted my magazine to focus on mainly food ,travel. or cultures. And so Coco was born.Coco was created through the brillance of the concept of MagCloud, a division of HP that allows people like you and me to publish their own magazines f or a fraction of the cost of traditional printing porcesses.. I hope you like my first issue, Discovery through the Palate. A Travel and Food Diary. It was a lot of work and fun piecing this together and I got great feedback from friends who know all about media. Call it a vanity project, but I want to give you the reader an up close, intimate view of some of my world and travels.It’s almost like a diary or scrapbook, full of great visuals, recollections, recipes, and places I would recommend when travelling. Coco is a little art and little reference. I plan to produce 4 themed issues and hope you consider placing an order. Each edition is meant to be timeless in that it’s not limited by seasons. Coco is perfect for those that are planning a trip or just aren’t able to travel, but are interested in the world at large and want to pick up an interesting tidbit here and there. It’s more than a magazine. Click here to order in the US, Canada, and The UK.





The Winner Is…. and Read All About My Master Chef Auditions


I have been under the weather this week and now juts getting around to posting a winner of  Ciao Italia: Five Ingredient Favorites by Mary Ann Esposito. Thanks for all the comments. As I stated for every comment I will donate one non perishable food item for One Comment One Eats. That’s 31 food items! Excellent and Thank you.

So the winner is Kathleen of Gonna Want Seconds!
Enjoy the book and be sure to email me you shipping information.

If you want to read about my Master Chef audition process, click here to go to EbonyJet.com.