Stir-Fried Leeks with Ginger and Shrimp

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Put half the oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over high heat. When a bit of smoke appears, add the leeks all at once. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then cook, stirring only occasionally, for about 10 minutes. When the leeks dry out and begin to brown, remove them from the pan and set aside.

   Step 2

   With the heat still on high, add the remaining oil to the pan, immediately followed by the shrimp; sprinkle with the ginger. Cook for about a minute and stir. Cook, stirring every minute or so, until the shrimp are almost all pink. Add the leeks, along with some salt and pepper. When the shrimp are done (no traces of gray will remain), stir in the liquid if desired, taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve.

2. Shrimp

   Step 3

   Almost all shrimp are frozen before sale. So unless you’re in a hurry, you might as well buy them frozen and defrost them yourself; this will guarantee you that they are defrosted just before you cook them, therefore retaining peak quality.

3. Step 4

   There are no universal standards for shrimp size; large and medium don’t mean much. Therefore, it pays to learn to judge shrimp size by the number per pound, as retailers do. Shrimp labeled 16/20, for example, contain sixteen to twenty per pound; those labeled U-20 require fewer (under) twenty to make a pound. Shrimp from fifteen to about thirty per pound usually give the best combination of flavor, ease (peeling tiny shrimp is a nuisance), and value (really big shrimp usually cost more than $15 a pound).

4. Step 5

   On deveining: I don’t. You can, if you like, but it’s a thankless task, and there isn’t one person in a hundred who could blind-taste the difference between shrimp that have and have not been deveined.