Full Recipe
Author
Food Network Kitchen | 2021-09-17
Description
Growing up I always saw honey walnut shrimp at Chinese wedding banquets but was never able to eat them due to my nut allergy. Luckily I outgrew the allergy in my early 20s and, consumed with curiosity for this iconic dish, it's one of the first recipes I wanted my mom to share with me. It's considered a special-occasion dish because of the technique and the size of the prawns used. And although the ingredients may seem simple, each component of the dish has a secret. For the walnuts, blanching them before frying is a classic technique Chinese restaurants use; it makes the nut's interior feel light and tender as a contrast to the crunchy candied exterior. For the sauce, the secret is the sweet-tart flavor of pineapple juice; without it the sauce could feel heavy from the mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk. Last but not least, butterflying the shrimp makes them appear larger, giving the dish the impressive look it's known for at Chinese banquets, and coating them in cornstarch creates a light and crisp exterior. I've made this dish numerous times for my family. My mom is glad that she no longer needs to wait for a wedding to enjoy it!
