Searching for a quick weeknight dinner bursting with flavor? Look no further than this caramelized shrimp and pork—it's ready in less than 30 minutes and guaranteed to satisfy your taste buds!
Ingredients
Marinade:
1lbshrimp, peeled or shrimp with head and shell on
1lbpork tenderloin, cut into one inch pieces
1tspkosher salt
½tspblack pepper
2Tbspfish sauce
1tspsugar
1Tbspmushroom powder
2green onion stalks, chopped, separating white and green
Caramel sauce:
⅓cupavocado oil, or any neutral oil
⅓cupsugar
Ingredients:
4garlic cloves, chopped
1large shallot, chopped
1 -1 ½cupcoconut water
Instructions
Season pork and shrimp with salt, pepper, fish sauce, one teaspoon of sugar and mushroom powder. Add the white part of chopped green onions and set aside the green part to be used for garnish later. Marinate for 15 minutes. Separate the pork and shrimp once done marinating.
I recommend using a rubber spatula for cooking so the caramel sauce does not stick to the spatula.
In a frying pan on medium high heat, make a caramel sauce by adding oil to the pan with ⅓ cup sugar. Stir occasionally until it turns a caramel color and the sugar has melted, around 2-3 minutes. Once it turns a caramel color, add the marinated pork and mix it into the sauce to coat it evenly. Then add shallots and garlic and stir fry for a minute.
Let it sit untouched for 3 minutes, then turn the meat over and let it cook untouched for another 3 minutes.
Add marinated shrimp, along with any marinade juice, and mix it in.
The amount of coconut water you use will depend on the size of your pan or pot. If it's a big surface area like a large skillet, then use 1 ½ cups coconut water, otherwise if using a pot that has a smaller surface area, then use ½ cup coconut water. Pour the coconut water into the pan to deglaze it, then bring it to a boil. Cook for 10 more minutes, stirring halfway — check the shrimp around minute 5-7; they're done as soon as they turn pink and opaque, so pull them from the heat promptly to avoid rubbery shrimp. If there's quite a bit of juice remaining, then turn heat up to reduce the sauce to your liking.
Top with the chopped green part of the green onions and serve over a bed of white rice or steamed vegetables, or both!