Shrimp Stuffed Peppers with Black Bean Sauce

Shrimp stuffed peppers looks complicated to make, but it’s really not – if you use a blender and frozen shrimp. And the sauce? Well, no difficulties at all.

Stuffed Peppers can be VERY EASY

As I recall my memory, my mom hardly made stuffed peppers at home. It’s more like a restaurant dish, or a dim-sum. Stuffed aubergine and green peppers are more common than colourful bell peppers.

Actually, this restaurant dish can be made easily at home. There are 2 key differences – using frozen shrimp and a blender.

Use Frozen Shrimp/Prawn

I’m a fan of frozen food.

Nowadays, as technology is improvised, flash frozen is a really good way to hold up fresh produce nutrients, even to cooked deli, bread, it can work perfect. You just need to pay a little attention to the ingredients. Do they include any preservatives or undesirable additives? If not, frozen products are totally fine to use.

In this case, you don’t have to peel or remove the shrimps’ heads, much easier than using fresh one, right?

Use Blender, No Hard Work

If you go to a restaurant, or you go to buy some fine shrimp paste, many of the retailers will tell you the shrimp paste is handmade. I feel that it’s more like a marketing way to promote ‘handmade is better than machine’.

To be honest, I always use a blender. Why? The shrimp cake’s texture is bouncy enough!

You may say the hand-chopped one is even tastier, but I just don’t feel motivated to mess up and spend more time making a slightly more bouncy shrimp cake.

This recipe is adopted from thewoksoflife.

Make 8-9 pcs

• ½ each of 3 colourful bell peppers

For the Stuffing

• 180 g shelled frozen shrimps, thawed
• 1 scallion(white), chopped
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• ¾ tbsp ShaoXing wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• white pepper

For the Sauce

• ¾ tbsp Black bean garlic sauce
• ¼ tsp salted vegetable bouillon powder
• ½ tsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp oyster sauce
• a pinch of sugar
• 1 scallion (green)
• 100 ml water
• cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch to 1 tsp water)

How to Make Shrimp Stuffed Peppers with Black Bean Sauce

1. Whiz all the stuffing ingredients into a blender until you got a fine sticky paste.
2. Deseed and remove the stems of peppers. Cut them into approx. 5 cm width, try to trim them to an appropriate curve, to let the stuffing cook evenly. Then stuff in the shrimp paste.
3. Heat some oil in a big pan, put in the stuffed peppers with shrimp sides down, cook over medium-high heat until golden.
4. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Mix all the sauce ingredients (except black bean garlic sauce, green scallions and cornstarch slurry) into a bowl.
5. Turn the peppers to other sides, add 2 tbsp water and cover with a lid for 5 mins until cooked. Place them on a plate.
6. Heat a little bit of oil in the same pan, fry the black bean garlic sauce until fragrant. Pour in the sauce(step 4) and bring to simmer. Add the cornstarch slurry, sprinkle in the green scallions. Pour the black bean sauce on top of stuffed peppers and enjoy!