Steamed Shrimps with Vermicelli （蒜蓉蒸虾）

Final product - Steamed Shrimps with Vermicelli

Step 1: place peeled and cleaned shrimps (prawns good too) over soaked vermicelli in a plate of your choice (round, sqaure or rectangular whichever would fit into your steamer).

Vermicelli needs to be soaked with warm water till softened ahead of time. Season the shrimps (prawns) with just a little bit salt. You can get really creative with how you arrange the shrimps. Most times, it depends on what shape of containers that could fit into your steamer. There are some fancy ways of arranging the shrimps in a rectangular plate. Bottom line, I want to make sure the juice coming down from the shrimp heads (red oil) gets into the vermicelli. We don't remove the shrimp heads because of all the good stuff and flavor. Well...some people may think differently. That is one of the key factors to make this dish successful. The shrimp heads! : ) Also, the heads come off easily once steamed. As you can see from the picture below, I used a round plate this time.

Arrange peeled and cleaned shrimps over the soaked and softened vermicelli in a plate

Step 2: Dice garlic, green onions and ginger. Spread all diced and mixed garlic, green onions and ginger over the top of the shrimps. You can add in some diced dried red peppers just to spice it up a little bit. Dripping some light soy sauce over the full plate of shrimps. Steam the shrimps for about 10-12 minutes. Don't overcook or the shrimps will loose its juiciness and tenderness.

Step 3: Heat up some cooking oil in a small saucepan. Once you start to see smoke out of the oil, turn off the stove. Pour the heated oil over the shrimp topped with all the spices. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then serve. The vermicelli is my favorite part of this dish as it has absorbed all the flavor! Yum yum!!

Scoop up the vermicelli on the bottom which has all the flavor!