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Recipe for Sesame Asparagus Shrimp (Low Carb)

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I am Rene from Skinny Girl Bistro and I am excited to share one of my low carb recipes with the readers of The Chinese Quest and thanks to my new friend Mee Magnum for inviting me.  

You can quest for good Chinese food in your own neighborhood or town and even here in Reno, Nevada.  We do have several very good Chinese restaurants.  One of my favorites is the one that is just up the hill from my house, Chinese Village at Galena Junction.  It’s a little hole-in-the-wall family run business and while not everything is authentic Chinese — they have been known to use tortillas for pancakes in their moo shu pork — the food is excellent and plentiful.  They almost always have a luncheon plate with asparagus chicken or asparagus shrimp, which is absolutely a top choice for me.

Sesame-Asparagus-ShrimpBut I am trying to stay with a low carb lifestyle so I stay away from rice and other starches and unknown carbs that are in many Asian sauces.  Fortunately, stir fry dishes are not difficult to make and just take about 30 minutes of preparation to put together a great almost-authentic Chinese dinner.  Today, I am sharing my recipe for Sesame Asparagus Shrimp, translated to Zhīma Lúsǔn Xiā in Chinese. 芝麻芦笋虾  It includes tomatoes, which are a relatively new vegetable to China that has really only arrived about a century ago, most likely via the Philippines and is slowly gaining popularity.  It’s actually a very good food item for them since it provides vitamins A, C and K along with several others that are difficult for the Chinese to find in the winter months.   Most of the tomatoes are grown in Xinjiang where it is being used in salads, soups, and noodle dishes.  Leave the tomatoes out if you prefer.

One tip, always slice your asparagus diagonally to expose more surface for the flavor when cooked in stir fry.  I didn’t do it when I cooked this dish for the photos since I was trying to salvage a bundle of asparagus that was going bad, so I was snapping off usable pieces.

Sesame Asparagus Shrimp

(Zhīma Lúsǔn Xiā)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb large shrimp (21-25)
15 spears Asparagus, trimmed and diagonally sliced
2 large Mushrooms, sliced
1/4 large Onion, sliced
6 Cherry Tomatoes
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated Ginger Root
1 tablespoon Oil
1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 tablespoon Cornstarch

Preparation:

Have everything prepared and ready to go.  Make your rice or cauli-rice (see below) first, so that it is staying warm while you cook the main course.

  1. Mix the cornstarch in with the chicken broth, stirring to get any lumps out.
  2. Sesame-Asparagus-Shrimp-preparation-smallIn a wok or large curved-side skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil until hot, then add minced garlic, onion and ginger root and stir until the onion is just cooked.
  3. Add the mushroom and asparagus and continue to cook for about four minutes until the asparagus are bright green.
  4. Add the shrimp and continue to stir fry for a few minutes until the shrimp start to turn pink.
  5. Then add the tomatoes and stir for a minute or two before adding the chicken broth, soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds to the pan.
  6. Continue to cook until the sauce thickens and the shrimp are pink.

Makes 2 servings. Serve with rice or cauli-rice.

Nutrition Information per servings without rice:  Calories: 200  Fat:  11.2g  Net Carbs: 9.8g  Protein: 13.5g

Low Carb Cauli-rice

To make low carb Cauli-rice for two:

  1. Take 1/2 bag of frozen cauliflower and thaw in the microwave for about 2 minutes.  (Or cut 1/4 head of fresh cauliflower into pieces and parboil for about three minutes, then drain.)
  2. Put in a food processor and pulse several times until cauliflower is chopped to rice-sized pieces.
  3. Put in a skillet with 1/4 cup water and a pinch of salt.
  4. Heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until the cauliflower rice is tender.
  5. Add water as needed.
  6. Cut up two green onions and add to the rice and cook another minute or two.
  7. Keep warm by covering the skillet with foil until ready to serve.

If you’ve enjoyed my recipe and want to find more delicious recipes that are adapted for low carbohydrate diets, please visit my blog Skinny Girl Bistro.

For another great tasting, low-carb recipe, the recipe for Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts is on my site at: http://reneaverett.me/skinnygirl/wade-into-water-chestnuts/

Enjoy!

Mee Ree (aka Rene)

Link for my blog: www.reneaverett.me/skinnygirl/

The Chinese Quest welcomes original articles pertaining to the Chinese dining experience.  Your article should pertain to Chinese restaurants, Chinese food, etc.  For more information, please contact us.

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6 comments

  1. Hey, it’s asparagus season in my parts. I’m going to try this 🙂

  2. Rene, the recipe look absolutely YUMMY! Can’t wait to try it out for myself… or for someone to make it for Mee LOL.

    Can string beans be substituted for asparagus?

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