Ebi no Umani (Sweet Simmered Shrimp)

Name: Ebi no Umani (Sweet Simmered Shrimp)
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Makes 8 (Serves 4)
Ingredients: Head-on shrimp (with head and shell) 8; Dashi granules (Japanese soup stock) 1/4 tsp; Water 100ml; Sake (Japanese rice wine) 3 tbsp; Mirin (sweet rice seasoning) 2 tbsp; Sugar 1 tbsp; Soy sauce 1 tbsp; Bamboo skewer 1 stalk

🎍 Special days

Makes 8 (Serves 4) · About 30 min (20 min of this is just letting them sit in the broth)
Shell-on shrimp simmered quickly in a sweet and salty broth and left to cool in it. The red color is perfect for a New Year's food box.

① Remove the veins→② Boil the broth→③ Simmer the shrimp→④ Cool in the broth

What to buy

Fish

Head-on shrimp (with head and shell)If frozen, move to the fridge the night before to thaw8

Seasonings & dry goods

Dashi granules (Japanese soup stock)1/4 tsp

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How to make it

Remove the veins

About 10 min

Rinse the shrimp quickly with water
Hold the shrimp with its back curved. Push a bamboo skewer between the shell segments, 2nd–3rd segment from the head. Hook the black vein (the gut) and slowly pull it out
Trim the long feelers and the tips of the legs short with kitchen scissors
Pat dry with paper towels

How to tell it's doneThe vein is out of all 8 shrimp. If it breaks partway, push the skewer in at another segment and pull again.

Be carefulWash your hands and cutting board with soap after touching raw shrimp.

Boil the broth

Medium heatAbout 2 min

In a pot or frying pan big enough to lay the shrimp without overlapping, put 100 ml water, 1/4 tsp dashi granules, 3 tbsp sake, 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp soy sauce
Put over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring

How to tell it's doneThe whole sauce is bubbling hard.

Add the shrimp and simmer

Medium heatAbout 4–5 min

Lay the shrimp in so they do not overlap
Simmer 2–3 minutes, spooning the sauce over them with a ladle now and then
Turn them over with cooking chopsticks and simmer 2 minutes more

How to tell it's doneThe shells are red all over and the shrimp are tightly curled. Look at the meat between the shell segments of 1 shrimp: no gray, see-through parts, and it is white all over (cooked through to the center).

Be carefulIf you simmer too long, the meat gets tough and shrinks. Turn off the heat as soon as it is cooked.

Cool in the sauce

Heat off20 min or more

Turn off the heat and leave the shrimp in the sauce for 20 minutes or more (the flavor soaks in as it cools)
Put on a plate. Keep leftovers in a container with the sauce in the fridge. Eat within about 2 days

ReadyThe shells are red and shiny, and the peeled meat has taken on a light brown flavor.

📚 Learn more about this dish

🥬 Ingredient guide

Dashi Mirin Shoyu (soy sauce)

🔪 Cutting & cooking tips

Boiling Heat levels (high, medium, low)

If it didn't work out

The meat is toughYou simmered too long in step 3. Next time, turn off the heat as soon as it is cooked, and let the leftover heat and the sauce add flavor.

The flavor is weakThe rest time in step 4 was short. Leave the shrimp in the sauce in the fridge for a few hours.

It feels grittySome of the vein was left in. Next time, check in step 1 that it is out of all 8 shrimp.

Some parts do not turn redThose parts were not in the sauce. In step 3, spoon the sauce over while simmering and turn them over halfway.

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Made by YUU, a teen who loves cooking → About me