New-Style Japanese Ebi Chili (Shrimp in Chili Sauce)

Peel the shrimp. Starting from the leg side, dig in with your nail and peel off half the shell, then flip it over and slip the rest off. There is meat in the triangular section at the base of the tail as well, so shift your grip and remove it carefully. You can discard the shells, but they can be used to make stock.

Clean the shrimp. Hold each one with your fingers, tail up, and run the knife smoothly along the back to butterfly it open. Steady it with your fingers and pull out the vein and any grit, and remove any dark bits left near the tail. You only rinse once at the end, so first score the backs of all the shrimp.

Fill a large bowl with water, add the shrimp, and wash them, kneading lightly. Once the grit comes off and the water clouds, drain it and transfer the shrimp to a colander. Rinsing them under running water washes away the shrimp's flavor, so one wash is enough.

Spread the shrimp out and pat them thoroughly dry with paper towels or a towel that has been wet and wrung out tightly. This removes any off smell.

Return the dried shrimp to a bowl, add the mayonnaise, toss lightly to coat, and set aside. Do not add the potato starch yet at this stage.

Make the combined seasonings. In a bowl, mix the doubanjiang, 3 tablespoons ketchup, 1 tablespoon shiro-dashi, and 5 g each of ginger, garlic, and scallion paste. Rather than adding all 90 ml of water at once, add it gradually to thin the mixture so no lumps form.

Add the potato starch to the mayonnaise-coated shrimp a little at a time, folding it in lightly with a cutting motion as if making kakiage. Once a crumbly coating forms, let it sit for a while.

Cook using the cold start method. Spread 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil evenly over a cold pan with the heat off and arrange the shrimp in it. Only once they are all arranged do you turn on the heat, cooking them slowly in the shallow oil over medium heat (about half of maximum).

When the bottom half turns from pink to orange, it's the sign to turn them. Flip the shrimp, and once they are browned, turn off the heat. With a thick pan the residual heat will finish cooking them, so you can just leave them there.

Chop the Japanese leek. Cut it lengthwise in half, then crosswise into quarters, chop it finely, and prepare 100 g (80–100 g). Use both the green and white parts. Paste was used for the combined seasonings, but here it is chopped to keep some texture.

With the heat still off, pour the combined seasonings into the pan. Return it to medium heat and, since the pan is already hot, it will start bubbling right away. The potato starch will thicken the sauce, so wait without stirring much.

Once the whole pan is bubbling and the sauce has thickened, add the chopped Japanese leek and drizzle in 1 tablespoon of chili oil (or sesame oil), then toss to coat. It's done when the green parts of the leek turn vivid and the white parts turn translucent. Transfer to a serving dish.