By now youre probably familiar with the idea of copycat recipes: something offered at a restaurant that is so delicious you look around for a way to replicate it yourself at home. There are literally more websites devoted to copycats on the internet than you could possibly count, attempting to closely approximate everything from fast food chicken to the Veal Oscar at a fancy New York eatery.
Most of these recipes, I find, must be read with a large dose of skepticism, remembering that professional kitchens might have access to ingredients and levels of quality you may have trouble finding for your own kitchen. It also can be pretty hard to isolate all the flavor components you are tasting, identifying each separately. Its certainly fun to try though, and the exercise will help develop your ability to know what is in the food youre eating.
Can you tell the difference between basil and oregano in a sauce? Is that lemon juice youre tasting or lime juice? Or is it the zest of one or the other? Flat leaf parsley or cilantro? Are you tasting something smoked, or has the chef used a smoke flavoring in a sauce?
Being able to isolate and identify flavors also helps you to quickly sum up the quality of the dish youre eating. Does it taste as it should and as you would expect? If youre tasting onions, its a good bet someone has messed up the oatmeal (or the spoon youre using isnt clean).
Theres a chain restaurant that serves a shrimp appetizer that is very popular and seems to be the target of a lot of replication attempts. I gave it a shot recently, combining what I found in three different recipes, doing a lot of experimenting and tasting, and finally winding up with something close enough for me. Ill probably keep tweaking, but this is a delicious run at it.
A deep fryer is handy to have for this, but you can use a pot on the range top as well. Take care with the oil temperature: too cool and youll have a greasy mess, too hot and itll burn before the food cooks. Taste the sauce constantly as you make it and adjust as you see fit.
CRISPY SHRIMP IN A TANGY SAUCE
1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups milk
1 egg
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
1/4 cup sweet Thai chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Sriracha sauce, to taste.
Salt
2 small scallions, finely chopped
Canola oil, for frying
Whisk together the milk and egg. Add the shrimp and let them soak for 15-20 minutes. For the sauce, mix together the mayonnaise, Thai sauce, pepper flakes, garlic, lime juice, onion powder, Sriracha and salt.
Heat oil until it reaches 350-375 degrees. Mix together the flour, cornstarch and garlic powder. Drain the shrimp, dredge them in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess, and deep fry for 3-4 minutes in a couple of small batches, being careful not to overcrowd. Remove to drain on paper towels. Toss the shrimp in the sauce, sprinkle with the scallion for garnish and serve right away. Theyll lose crunch fairly quickly, so this is not a dish to make ahead.
