Shrimp with Chili Garlic Cream Sauce

Shrimp is a rarity in our house since I've been home with the kids. Normally, it's just too expensive, but you will see a few shrimp recipes from me in the coming months because it was on sale and I bought 4 pounds of it. Yay!
Here's an awesome shrimp dish that came about after trying to mimic the Walnut Shrimp from PF Chang's. This dish is nowhere near the same in flavor, but rather I wanted to mimic the texture of a lightly fried shrimp in a cream sauce. For the shrimp I lightly coated it with cornstarch and garlic powder and fried it in canola oil. The cornstarch/garlic powder adds a delicate coating and doesn't smother the shrimp with a heavy fried batter. The cream sauce was adapted from a Sriracha Cream Sauce I found on Pinterest from a blog called Damn Delicious. Instead of using Sriracha, I used Chili Garlic Sauce, which is basically the same but with garlic. I like the intense garlic flavors from this sauce along with the heat and thought it would taste better with the shrimp than just sriracha. 
The finished dish came out absolutely delicious. Sweet and spicy and with the lightly fried shrimp you get the crunchy too, just yummy! You can adjust the heat with the amount of chili sauce you add, I added 3 teaspoons and it was spicy but not burning. My husband wanted it hotter so next time, I'll probably add 4 teaspoons or just hand him the bottle. :)  Enjoy!

Shrimp with Chili Garlic Cream Sauce
(Serves 2)

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined
3-4 Tbsp. cornstarch (enough to coat shrimp)
1 T garlic powder
oil for frying
green onions, chopped
toasted sesame seeds

Chili Garlic Cream Sauce: (adapted from damndelicious)
2-3 tsp. Chili Garlic Sauce (to taste)
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. soy sauce

In a medium bowl, add shrimp, cornstarch and garlic powder and toss to coat well.
 

 

In a medium bowl, add all the chili garlic sauce ingredients and mix well and set aside. 

Heat about an inch of oil (I used canola) and add shrimp in small batches so they are not touching or crowding. Fry for about 5-8 minutes turning to ensure even frying and remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels.

Add the fried shrimp to the bowl with prepared Chile Garlic Cream Sauce and stir to coat shrimp. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Complete the meal with a Nappa Cabbage Salad or with a Spicy Asian Meatball Soup as a starter.