A Pink Christmas
Let’s move out of literature for a little while and head on straight to another passion of mine – the color pink…I mean, cooking. Okay so I’m not that good with the spatula but, hey, I’m learning (if I’m not sleeping or writing).
It’s probably no secret – I am obsessed with the color pink. This Christmas season, I tried to incorporate the girly color into whatever I could get my hands on and I could only get them on the spatula. I had thought about this endeavor a few weeks back and I thought it probably would work so I stocked up on the ingredients, bought them and made my ultimate favorite pasta dish: Shrimp Pasta with Pink Sauce.
Ingredients
• 2 pounds medium shrimp – peeled and deveined (last term means to take out all those icky veins. XD)
• 4 tablespoons tomato puree (crush them tomatoes)
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 teaspoons lemon juice (for that zesty taste)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup heavy cream (leftover from my mom)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
(or ginger powder, whatever suits you)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adds the oomph!)
• 1 tablespoon mustard seed (yes, mustard has seeds)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped (bad for vampires)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (don’t sniff it in or you’ll sneeze really bad)
• 1 teaspoon salt (salty)
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar (sweet)
• ground black pepper to taste (adds flavor, I think)
Directions for (Shrimp) Pink Sauce
1. First, place the tomato puree in a measuring cup for…good measure. Add enough water to make a total measure of 1 cup and then place them in a medium bowl. Now, with both tomato puree and water, you have to trust your instincts. I used tomato sauce but you can also puree your own tomatoes, as long as the tomatoes are going to give some real flavor for this dish.
2. Stir in your cream, the ginger, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper to taste, and then sugar. Cover and refrigerate until needed. This part takes a little time. I usually go over the top by checking every 3 hours but that’s just me. The black pepper is just there to enhance the flavor and you have the option to not use it. I like using it though because I’m one of those guys who drown their batchoy in black pepper. Instead of that, however, you can use soy sauce but limit salt to ½ teaspoon if you’d use that idea. I like to break the cayenne peppers and exploit their seeds for maximum fire. By the way, this is your pink sauce.
3. Heat oil in a large frying pan, by large I mean suitable, over a medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds. Warning: mustard seeds pop. As soon as they begin to pop, add the garlic. Stir before adding the shrimps. Stir and fry until they just turn opaque. Trust your instincts again. You can also sprinkle the mix with salt (or soy sauce) and ground pepper to taste.
4. Pour in the pink sauce (the cayenne pepper concoction) and stir frantically (because my little sister would have smelled this by now). As soon as the sauce is bubbling, the dish is ready to be served with hot cooked pasta. You didn’t forget the pasta, right?
I don’t usually recommend using the soy sauce, not at all, but it’s probably cheaper for some since it’s a ready condiment. That said, salt might be a little cheaper compared to soy sauce but it depends on your taste…or style.
With regards to cumin, be careful with it since it’s pretty much a strong condiment and a pungent spice. It may overpower the other flavors. Instead of tomato puree, you can also use tomato paste aside from the tomato sauce. That way, it brings out the natural lycopene flavor of the tomato. For garnish, feel free to add black olives and grated parmesan cheese. Instead of ginger root, ginger powder is a fine substitute.
A warning though, if you use milk instead of cream, it will be a whole lot watery. That may not be a problem to some but most have argued that the recipe is better less watery than Espana Road watery. Regarding the pasta, I highly recommend you use thin spaghetti.
To thicken the sauce, you can add cornstarch. You can also use half of the required cumin (depending on your taste) and extra lemon juice to satisfy. This can be a really spicy pasta if you get the flavors right.
We had this for our Noche Buena, because we celebrate Christmas being in a Christian Nation like the Philippines, and our leftovers can’t even reach ¼ of the original amount. I serve my pasta side by side with the sauce, not ready with all the sauce poured over it, to give the diners the option to customize their plates.
The leftovers, by the way, are now gone because I ate them as I wrote this entry.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!
† Jofer
