Mongolian shrimp recipe

5 from 3 votes

Mongolian shrimp is a Taiwanese dish with succulent shrimp velveted and tossed in a savory soy garlic Mongolian sauce. Healthy easy to make!

Prep Time20

Cook Time6

Total Time26

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Taiwanese

Keyword: Mongolian shrimp, Mongolian shrimp stir fry

Servings: servings

Soak the shrimp in a large bowl with cold water and baking soda. Gently message and chill the bowl in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to a night before. Discard the water and rinse the shrimp a few times then pat them dry.

Butterfly the shrimp on the back side by making a shallow slit, using a small pairing knife, In a large bowll, toss the shrimp with starch and coat it well on all sides.
Thinly sliced the garlic, finely chop the ginger, and slice the green onions into 1.5-inch sections and separate the white and green parts. For Chinese dry red chili peppers, if using, use kitchen shears to cut them open into 3 sections and shake out and discard the seeds. Set aside the Mongolian sauce in a small bowl.
Preheat a large non-stick saute pan over medium heat until it feels hot then add 1 tbsp oil. Add the shrimp and spread them out into a single layer. A slight overlap is okay. Pan fry the shrimp over medium to medium-high heat for 2 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the flip side. Transfer them out and set aside.
Use the same pan, add the remaining half tablespoon of oil. Saute the garlic, ginger, white scallion parts, and chili peppers with a pinch of salt over medium heat for 10 seconds.
Return the shrimp to the pan. Pour in the sauce. Turn heat up to medium-high. Add a small splash of Chinese wine, if using. Give everything a quick toss for about 10 seconds then turn off the heat.
Transfer the shrimp to a serving plate. Serve hot with rice.

In authentic Mongolian stir-fries, the sauce takes a backseat to the aromatics and main ingredient. For instance, Mongolian beef doesn't even require a sauce - its flavor comes from the marinated and velveted beef itself and the aromatics cooked in a hot wok. The real essence of Mongolian flavor is in the aromatic ingredients like spring onions, ginger, and chili, quickly stir-fried over high heat.
When making Mongolian shrimp, focus on achieving a perfect snappy, springy texture for the shrimp. Follow the steps on how to properly velvet the shrimp to get that signature crunch along with the authentic Mongolian wok-fried flavor. The sauce simply enhances the shrimp and aromatics rather than overpowering them.
If you are short on time, skip soaking the shrimp in baking soda water and butterfly the shrimp. Simply pat the shrimp dry, then coat with starch before pan frying.