I’m giddy excited to share this Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry recipe with you, because shrimp is an easy, delicious and healthy protein to stir fry, and also because I am IN LOVE with this gorgeous stir fry sauce.
Why we love Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry
This sauce is my latest creation, concoction, AND obsession. We cannot get enough of it, and currently, I have this urge to pour it on every single protein/veggie combination I can think of. I’m resisting hard.
Besides the obvious yum factor, this recipe is also comes together pretty quickly. In other words, perfect for busy evenings. For those of you looking for a 15-minute meal that taste so good no one will believe you breeze through it in the kitchen…this is it, and it is the REAL DEAL.
The Sauce
Alright, the sauce. THE SAUCE that I have been bragging about. This is a sticky, sticky sauce that is part savory and part sweet, made out of oyster sauce (or oyster flavored sauce) and sweet soy sauce (kicap manis).
Kicap manis is a Malaysian/Indonesian name of the sauce that translates into ‘sweet soy sauce’. It is widely used in Malaysian and Indonesian dishes. I had a lot of it growing up, and is probably one of my favorite sauces.
You can find sweet soy sauce (kicap manis) from the Asian grocery stores, some mainstream grocery stores (not all unfortunately), or buy it online here.
Oyster sauce is more common and can be found in most regular grocery stores these days. It is widely used in many Chinese recipes, especially stir frys and marinates. Even if you haven’t cooked with it, if you had Chinese food, you probably had it before but just didn’t know it!
Just like most stir fry sauces, rice cooking wine is also involved in this, as it gives this umami flavor to the dish. We are also adding ginger and garlic because yours truly is a lover of garlic and ginger, and they give dimensions to the flavor of the sauce, instead of just a flat sweet/savory taste.
All these ingredients combine create a gorgeous sauce that goes on shrimp like it is MEANT TO BE.
How to make Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry
To make this recipe, start by chopping up fresh garlic and ginger, and combining oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce (kicap manis), and rice cooking wine in a small ramekin.
Then pat dry the defrosted raw shrimp (not cooked shrimp) to remove the moisture. This is important because if the shrimp is too wet it will create a pool of water in your wok/skillet, and you end up boiling the shrimp in water, instead of frying it in oil.
Once you finished prepping the ingredients, heat up wok or skillet and add vegetable oil on high heat (yes, turn it up all the way). Use a wok (or skillet) that can withstand and maintain heat very well. This is the wok I use (and love).
Wait till the wok is hot, then add shrimp into the wok. Stir fry shrimp for 2-4 minutes minutes (time needed will depend on size of shrimp), or until it is cooked. Try to avoid overcooking shrimp. Shrimp, and most seafood, cooks fairly quickly. Cooked shrimp will curl up slightly and turn light red/orange.
Once shrimp is cooked, remove from the wok. Add additional vegetable oil into the wok, and wait for it to heat up. Add garlic and ginger into the wok, stir fry for a few seconds, then add snow peas into the wok, and stir fry for another minute.
Snow peas doesn’t take long to cook, and will turn a vibrant green when it is done. Also, if you don’t like snow peas, substitute it with another veggie!
Add shrimp and stir fry sauce into the wok, then continue stirring. Remember, high heat is used for cooking this whole time.
Give it about a minute, or once you see the sauce boiling, remove from heat promptly. Make sure everything is cooked before removing, but also, avoid overcooking. This whole stir frying process should happen very quickly.
Tips and Tricks
There are a few tips to making this Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry!
- Use a large wok (or skillet) so that you can move/stir the items around and cook the items more evenly.
- Use a wok or skillet that retains heat well
- Pat dry defrosted shrimp to avoid water puddles and diluting the sauce
- The stir fry process goes fast…don’t overcook shrimp!
If you are interested in learning more tips and tricks to take this stir fry from good to AH-MA-ZING, check out 8 Tips to a Great Stir Fry.
And there you go! The EPIC Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry, with the yummy Savory Sweet Sauce. Best served over white or brown rice. Your dinner in 15 minutes!
Ah sticky, sticky sauce, clinging just so slightly, to the juicy shrimp and crunchy snow peas. I want to stuff my face with this. Like RIGHT NOW.
After you make this, you will wonder why you even bother with Chinese take-outs when you can make your own in no time and it tastes so. darn. good.
So…what are you waiting for? 😉 I vote that you make it!!
Also, if you love all kinds of stir fry, check out some of our other favorites from the blog!
- Steak Fried Rice
- Shrimp Stir Fried Noodles
- Kung Pao Shrimp
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Stir Fry Beef with Ginger and Scallions
- Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry
- Honey Soy Tofu, Green Beans and Pork Stir Fry
Love this recipe? Comment below and give us a 5-star rating! Also, take a picture of your creation and tag me on Instagram, because I WANNA SEE!!
Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry with Savory Sweet Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 oz raw shrimp
- 4 oz snow peas
- 2 1/2 tbsp oyster (flavored) sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kicap manis)
- 1/2 tbsp rice cooking wine
- 2-4 cloves garlic (minced or thinly sliced)
- 1 tsp ginger (minced or thinly sliced)
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- Mince or thinly slice garlic and ginger. In a ramekin, combine oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce and rice cooking wine to make the stir fry sauce. Pat dry defrosted shrimp.
- Add 1-2 tsp vegetable oil to wok. Heat wok on high heat. Once oil is bubbly and wok is heated up, add shrimp. Stir fry shrimp for 2-4 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked. Remove shrimp from wok. Do not overcook shrimp.
- Add 1-2 tsp vegetable oil to wok. Heat wok on high heat. Once oil is bubbly and wok is heated up, add garlic and ginger. Stir for a few seconds, then add snow peas to wok. Stir continuously for 1 minute or until snow peas turn darker green.
- Add shrimp back into the wok and add stir fry sauce. Stir for 1 minute or until all items are cooked. Remove promptly, do not overcook.
- Serve with brown or white rice. Enjoy!
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This is making me wish I was eating at your house tonight. Looks so delicious! I’m adding it to the meal calendar, and I may be purchasing the wok you recommended. Thanks, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Haha! Thanks Allie! We loved this one, and I do love my wok! 🙂 Let me know if you have questions when you make it!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try!
Thanks so much, Karly! Let me know what you think if you do. 🙂
This was delicious! My execution was not great (the shrimp wasn’t completely thawed, so there was a lot of water in the pan, and then I accidentally burned the garlic), but the sauce was so good that it overcame my errors. Will definitely make this again.
Yes! My favorite part of this recipe is definitely the sauce. It’s just so good! I’m glad the dish still came out OK! If you have questions when you try it again please let me know!! 🙂
I finally tried this recipe last night, and yum! I also burnt the garlic the first time around. Any tips for that? I ended up getting rid of that batch, and I put the garlic and ginger (which I bought ground) into the sauce instead. It still turned out great. I loved the sauce and the crunchiness of the snow peas. I will be adding this one to the meal calendar.
Yay! I’m glad the recipe turned out well for you! Regarding the burned garlic, try this…When you add the garlic and ginger to the hot oil, go ahead and throw in the snow peas as well. This way the garlic has less time to get burned. It is also less likely to get as burned when there are a lot of other items in the wok. And your method works as well!! Hope that helps! 🙂
We loved it. So much easier than some of my other recipes.
That’s awesome!! So glad to hear it 🙂
Can I use snap peas instead. The last time I put snow peas into my recipe my wife didn’t like the stringy bits of the peas! I agreed with her on this.
Yep! That works just fine!