No, it isn’t Pho– I am not even going to try to tackle that one yet. Instead, it’s one of those Saturday morning experiments that will only get better as I refine it over the next few weeks. It’s another slow burner, but not as slow as the 16-Hour Ramen. In fact, the broth looks dark at first, but it isn’t heavy at all once you strain everything out. You ready?

I usually like to buy and cook shrimp with the shell on– they taste better when cooked in the shell, and at the very least you can save the shells for stock. This time, I used shrimp shells, duck fat, a Habañero pepper, and kaffir lime leaves. Toss in some ginger, fresh turmeric, shallots, garlic, and Thai basil, and cook it down until the shells turn clear. Then, season it with some soy sauce, salt, onion powder, and black pepper. I also fried up the rest of the shallots, tossed those into the stock, and used the oil for the shrimp.

For the shrimp, dust them lightly with flower, salt, and some freshly crushed peppercorns– in this case, I had black, red, and green ones. Shallow-fry the shrimp in the shallot oil, then season them again with paprika, and crushed pepper.

Finally, boil rice noodles in heavily salted water, drain, and serve with the shrimp and broth.

Let’s cook.

You’ll need:

1 lb Shrimp

1/2 lb Shrimp Shells

1 Shallot, sliced thinly

1 Tbs Ginger, minced

1 Tbs Turmeric Root, minced

4 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 Habañero Pepper, minced

1 Bell Pepper, sliced thinly

1/2 Cup Thai Basil

1/4 Cup Cilantro

1 Lime

2 Tbs Soy Sauce

2 Kaffir Lime Leaves

2 Tbs Duck Fat

2 Tbs Flour

1 Tbs Paprika

2 Tbs Peppercorns

1 Tbs Coriander

2 Tbs Sesame Seeds

1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Heat duck fat on med-high, then sauté shrimp shells, ginger, garlic, turmeric, and half of the shallots. Add the peppers, and sesame seeds, then cover with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2-3 hours, or until the shells are clear.
2. Fry the remaining shallots in vegetable oil, then transfer the shallots to a paper towel to drain the oil, and add the fried shallots to the stock pot.
3. Dust the shrimp with flour, salt, pepper, and paprika, then fry in the shallot oil. Drain on paper towels, then season with lime juice, remaining peppercorns and paprika.
4. Boil salted water, and cook rice noodles until chewy. Drain the noodles, and transfer to bowls.
5. Strain the stock, then serve with fried shrimp and noodles.

Done.