Shrimp Stew for Two
A stew should be as comforting to cook as it is to eat. In this effortless one-pot meal, a spicy, aromatic broth is tinged red with gochugaru, a Korean red-pepper powder. You want to use jumbo shrimp or prawns for this; be sure to get shell-on crustaceans (and head-on if you can), as they’re essential to flavoring this simple dish with their incredible nuttiness. Bitter greens and sweet radishes add vegetal heft as well as complexity to the broth, which you should definitely sop up with bread or rice. If seafood dishes like bouillabaisse, cioppino and maeuntang excite you, then this brothy wonder will delight and nourish.
- Total:
- Serves: 2 persons
Ingredients
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2large shallots, thinly sliced crosswise
- Salt and black pepper
- 4large garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1(1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 1tablespoon olive oil
- 2tablespoons gochugaru, plus more to taste (see Tip)
- 8ounces broccoli rabe, Tuscan kale or other sturdy bitter greens, coarsely chopped
- 8to 10 shell-on jumbo shrimp or 4 tiger prawns, preferably head-on, deveined (about 8 ounces)
- 6ounces radishes, thinly sliced (1 ½ cups)
- 1tablespoon fish sauce, plus more to taste
- Pinch of granulated sugar, plus more to taste
- Toasted crusty bread or steamed white rice, for serving
Instructions
Step 1
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium-high. Add half of the shallots, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and starting to brown at the edges, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger, and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.Step 2
Add the olive oil and gochugaru, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Raise the heat to high and add 2 cups water. Scrape the stuck-on bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, and bring the broth to a boil.Step 3
Add the broccoli rabe and nestle in the shrimp. Reduce the heat and gently simmer the shrimp, turning them once halfway through, until pink and just barely cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. The broccoli rabe should be bright green and considerably wilted.Step 4
Stir in the remaining shallots, the radishes, fish sauce and sugar. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, gochugaru, fish sauce or sugar as needed.Step 5
Serve the stew in wide bowls with a plate on the side for the shrimp shells, and some crusty bread or steamed rice for sopping up the aromatic juices.