Garden Shrimp Stir-Fry Two Ways
Garden Shrimp Stir-Fry Two Ways
Two quick wild shrimp dishes straight from the garden: a ginger stir-fry with tropical greens, bok choy, and caramelized onion, served with a marinated cucumber salad, and a bright summer sauté with zucchini, cucumber, and fresh herbs in a lime broth.
Yield: Serves 4 (each version) · Active: 15–25 min · Total: 25–55 min · Year-round in the tropics; late spring through fall in subtropical gardens; summer for the lime broth version · Cuisine: Tropical, Asian-Latin · Best eaten: midday or early evening
Which one to make?
Version 1: Tropical Greens and Ginger Shrimp Stir-Fry. Heartier, with deeply caramelized onion, ginger, bok choy, broccoli, and an armful of greens. Lovely year-round in warm climates, or with spinach and chard anywhere.
Version 2: Summer Shrimp with Cucumber, Zucchini, and Lime. Lighter and faster, in a bright lime broth with cilantro and dill. The 25-minute dinner for hot summer nights.
Version 1: Tropical Greens and Ginger Shrimp Stir-Fry with Marinated Cucumber Salad
Serves 4 · Active: 25 min · Total: 55 min, including marinating the cucumbers
Tropical perennial greens are the secret of any kitchen in a warm climate. Longevity spinach, Okinawa spinach, katuk, chaya, and sweet potato leaves thrive in heat and sun, where ordinary spinach bolts and dies. They produce all year, ask almost nothing in return, and are packed with minerals and chlorophyll. This stir-fry came out of pulling armfuls of those greens in the afternoon and wanting to do as little to them as possible: wild shrimp, caramelized onion for depth, ginger and a little jalapeño for heat, and sour mandarin for brightness, with a cool cucumber salad on the side.
No tropical greens? It’s just as good with mature spinach, chard, mustard greens, or dandelion greens.
Ingredients
Marinated cucumber salad (start first)
1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 sour mandarin (or 1 small lime plus a splash of orange juice)
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Stir-fry
1½ lbs wild shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp grass-fed butter or virgin coconut oil
6 small onions or 2 large, thinly sliced
2–3-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
½ jalapeño, minced
2 small heads bok choy, sliced
1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets
4 large handfuls of greens: longevity spinach, Okinawa spinach, sweet potato leaves, katuk, or chaya (see the notes below), or spinach, chard, or mustard greens
¼ cup coconut aminos
Juice of 1 sour mandarin (or 1 lime)
Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper
Optional toppings
Toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds
Torn nori
Pickled ginger
Sliced avocado
A note on katuk and chaya: These are two different plants, and both must be cooked.
Chaya: Boil the leaves for 15–20 minutes, then drain and chop, before adding them to the stir-fry. The boiling breaks down its natural cyanide compounds. Use a stainless steel or enamel pot, not aluminum.
Katuk: Cook it, and enjoy it in normal amounts. Large amounts of raw katuk, especially as juice, have been linked to lung damage.
Longevity spinach, Okinawa spinach, and sweet potato leaves need no special prep.
Method
Marinate the cucumber. Toss the cucumber with the cilantro, mandarin juice, and salt, and let it sit at least 30 minutes, so the cucumber soaks up the citrus.
Prep the chaya (if using). Boil it 15–20 minutes, then drain and chop.
Caramelize the onions. Heat the butter in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook 10–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until deep golden. Don’t rush this; it’s where the flavor comes from.
Add the ginger and jalapeño, and stir 30 seconds, until fragrant.
Steam the vegetables. Add the bok choy, broccoli, and a small splash of water. Cover, and cook 2 minutes.
Add the greens and shrimp. Stir in the greens and shrimp, and cook 3–4 minutes, stirring, until the shrimp turn pink and curl into a loose “C” and the greens wilt. Add tender greens, like spinach, in the last minute.
Finish. Pour in the coconut aminos and mandarin juice, and toss 30 seconds. Taste, and add salt and pepper.
Serve right away, with the cucumber salad and any toppings.
Version 2: Summer Shrimp with Cucumber, Zucchini, and Lime
Serves 4 · Active: 15 min · Total: 25 min
Quick-seared wild shrimp with zucchini, crisp cucumber, and fresh herbs in a bright lime broth. It’s the simplest summer weeknight plate, and lovely finished with a fresh hibiscus flower.
Ingredients
1 lb wild shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails on or off)
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt and ¼ tsp black pepper
2 tbsp pasture-raised lard, grass-fed ghee, or coconut oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
Optional: 1 jalapeño, minced
½ cup chicken or fish bone broth (or water)
1 cup leafy greens (spinach, kale, or chard), roughly chopped
1 medium cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into ½-inch chunks
Zest of 1 lime, and the juice of 2
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Optional garnish: an edible hibiscus flower
Method
Season the shrimp. Pat the shrimp very dry, and season with the salt and pepper.
Soften the aromatics. Heat the lard in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook 2–3 minutes, until soft and fragrant.
Add the zucchini and jalapeño (if using), and cook 2 minutes, until just starting to soften.
Sear the shrimp. Add the shrimp in a single layer, working in batches if needed so they sear instead of steam. Cook about 1 minute per side, until just pink. They turn rubbery quickly, so don’t overcook them.
Add the broth and greens. Pour in the broth, add the greens, and toss until just wilted.
Finish. Stir in the cucumber (added last, so it stays crisp), lime zest and juice, cilantro, and dill. Taste, and add more salt or lime.
Serve right away in shallow bowls, with a hibiscus flower, if you like.
Make It Your Own (Both Versions)
Richer broth: Buy shell-on shrimp, and sauté the shells in the fat for 5 minutes, until deep red, then strain them out before you start.
Coconut: Replace half the broth with full-fat coconut milk.
Southeast Asian: Add a smashed lemongrass stalk and 1 tbsp grated ginger with the aromatics.
Tropical fruit: Stir in ½ cup fresh pineapple, mango, or papaya at the end.
Summer corn: Add fresh corn kernels with the zucchini.
To serve: Spoon it over my Coconut Rice Two Ways, cauliflower rice, or zucchini noodles, with sliced avocado and toasted coconut chips.
Storage
Best eaten the day it’s made, since shrimp and tender greens lose their texture overnight. Leftovers keep 1 day in the fridge.
The cucumber salad keeps 1 day in the fridge, and is lovely the next morning with eggs or cold poached salmon.
Nourishment Notes
Wild shrimp — protein, iodine, copper, selenium, zinc, and B12, plus astaxanthin, the pink-orange carotenoid they get from the algae and krill they eat. Astaxanthin is a potent fat-soluble antioxidant, studied for protecting the eyes and skin. Farmed tropical shrimp are a very different food: often raised in crowded ponds with antibiotics, and frequently treated with sodium tripolyphosphate so they hold extra water. Look for “wild” and “U.S.” on the label.
Tropical perennial greens — chaya and katuk are rich in iron, calcium, and protein, often more than spinach. Longevity spinach (Gynura procumbens) is used traditionally across Southeast Asia, and is studied (mostly in animals) for supporting healthy blood sugar. Like all dark greens, they’re rich in chlorophyll, a pigment built around magnesium, much as hemoglobin is built around iron.
Bok choy and broccoli — vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and glucosinolates, which your body turns into sulforaphane.
Zucchini and cucumber — light and hydrating, with potassium and vitamin C.
Caramelized onions — quercetin, plus deep, sweet flavor.
Ginger and jalapeño — gingerols and capsaicin, which warm the body and support circulation. That’s one reason so many hot-climate cuisines love spicy food: the heat makes you sweat, which cools you down.
Citrus — vitamin C, which helps your body absorb the iron in the greens.
Fresh herbs — cilantro and dill bring vitamin K and a bright, fresh finish.
Coconut aminos — a savory, soy-free, gluten-free seasoning made from coconut sap and sea salt, lower in sodium than soy sauce.
As a circadian food, these are light, bright meals for midday or early evening. As a seasonal food, they follow the garden: tropical greens whenever they’re growing where you live, and the lime broth version at the height of summer, when zucchini and cucumbers are overflowing.
For your cycle: With zinc, selenium, and iodine for your thyroid, and iron-rich greens, these dishes are lovely in the follicular and ovulatory phases, when your body enjoys fresh, light food.
Sourcing
Shrimp — wild-caught U.S. Gulf brown or pink shrimp (peak season May through November) or Pacific spot prawns (May through July), from a trusted fishmonger or Wild Alaskan Company, with no added sodium tripolyphosphate
Tropical greens — from your garden or a local farmer in warm climates (they grow well in zones 9b and warmer); ECHO in Fort Myers, Florida, is a good source of plants and cuttings
Vegetables, herbs, citrus, ginger, and garlic — organic, from a farmers’ market or your garden
Grass-fed butter and ghee — organic, from 100% grass-fed cows, or Pure Indian Foods ghee
Lard — pasture-raised, from a local farm or Fatworks
Coconut oil — organic, virgin, and unrefined
Bone broth — homemade, or Bonafide Provisions
Coconut aminos — organic and soy-free, like Coconut Secret
Hibiscus flowers (optional) — food-grade and pesticide-free, from your garden or a farmers’ market
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall