Five Spice Shrimp

De Arbol (Capsicum Annuum) means tree like in Spanish. The plant has thick, upright, woody stems and the chile itself is narrow, curved and bright red in color. Believed to be closely related to the pequin, the De Arbol is thin fleshed, with tannic, smoky, grassy flavor and searing heat. This chile has a heat range of 7.5 on the heat scale of 1-10. De Arbol Chiles are comparable to a Cayenne Pepper. Scoville heat units 15,000 to 30,000.

Suggested Use:
De Arbol is a hot chile and a staple in Southwest kitchens. Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish. Be adventurous and add them to your next stew or chili along with the other spices Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish.

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Serves 4.

Shrimp Marinade:
1 Tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine (sub. dry sherry)
1/4 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp sea salt

Stir-fry:
1 1/2 lbs. large prawns, peeled and deveined
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp white pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp hot red Asian chile flakes
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp corn starch dissolved with 1 tsp water
3 Tbsp. canola oil (peanut optional)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 dried Asian chiles (sub. de arbol chiles)
1 lg carrot, peeled and diagonally sliced thin
1 medium white onion, halved, sliced and separated
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Combine marinade ingredients. Place shrimp in a bowl and add marinade; toss and set aside.

Combine Five spice, pepper, chile flakes, and salt, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or large deep skillet over medium-high heat, but not smoking. Add the prawns and cook, turning a few times until pink- for about 2 minutes. Remove shrimp to a paper towel; set aside.

Put the garlic and chile peppers in the wok and stir for a minute or until garlic is lightly browned. Add carrot, onion, and spice mixture. Stir until onion becomes translucent. Stir in dissolved corn starch, return prawns to the wok and toss about 1 minute. Add toasted sesame oil and toss again.

Serve immediately with jasmine rice and stir-fried vegetables.

From the Chile Peppers 2017 calendar by Larry Noggle.