Honey Walnut Shrimp

I haven't had this dish in well over a year, I had a poor association with this dish which made me avoid it like the plague. It wasn't like I didn't love it, I just didn't love what it was associated to... Now that that's been well forgotten, I find myself craving this dish more and more... I mean, I've had this ever since I was growing up, and it's been something that I order a lot of when I order take out... I think I played with this recipe when I was little... I can't even think of when, but it had to be at least 10-15 years ago. I realized that I had all the ingredients to make that special creamy sauce on the shrimps... it was strange, since I was convinced that that sauce came out of a jar and a restaurant just went and bought it in bulk... well, thanks to the internet and my curiosity to recreate favorite foods, I decided to take a shot at this again ( and also because I had oil from my deep fry yesterday.)

I went to the closest Chinese restaurant to my apartment the other day, it was definitely run by Koreans.... but hey, they love things spicy right? Well, it just so happens, not a lot of my friends and family like the spiciness that I'm so used to... so I didn't order things that really fancy my palate... wait did I just write that? .. I mean foods that are spicy.... spicy! I ordered walnut shrimp, and this bean thread dish, both were good, but the walnut shrimp just didn't wow me.. I got a lot of food for the price ($15 bucks for the dish) so much delectable shrimp, however, the sauce was sad.... it was just so bland! I knew I could make better, so I did... and voila ...my Monday lunch!

The quarter is winding down, if I seem calm on the outside, you should know that I'm going crazy inside.... the numbers continually crunch in my head...I dream about them... the test cases that I "need" ... the patients that I have to see asap... and new patients who I can't even figure where to squeeze into my schedule... and now it's time for the finale... the grand finale... I'm taking my grad photos, ordering announcements, my cap and gown...informing people to keep that weekend free... I really hope I don't jinx it..... this feeling is kind of like every end of the quarter.... but then again... next quarter is really the end? .. or is it? one more quarter to finish up those requirements, take WREBs ( .. / find a patient for that... Free fillings and cleanings anyone??) .... and maintain my sanity... the last part... is oh so important. Cheers to that, and many more cheers to me accomplishing my new years resolution of learning to cook Asian foods.

I eyeballed everything... but went off roughly from this recipe :
http://userealbutter.com/2011/11/17/chinese-honey-walnut-shrimp-recipe/


I knew that I had to put more mayo than condensed milk and honey, and I like my sauce a little more tangy so I added more lemon juice. I adjusted to taste. For the shrimp, I partially peels, and deveined them, coated them in mochiko and cornstarch and fried them in hot oil. I didn't want to make a whole batter for this... I only ended up making 5 shrimps.... I'm still eating my leftovers from last week :(