My friend introduced me to dried small shrimps or 虾皮. I grabbed a packet when I saw it in the Asian market. When you shake the packet, the dried small shrimps should be loose, if it sticks together then it is a bad stock. Because this dried small shrimps hardly have any meat in it so it is very rich in protein and minerals, especially calcium, iodine, and magnesium. It's so packed with calcium that it's considered a "calcium power house" and said to prevent osteoporosis. The magnesium in it is said to reduce blood cholesterol level, regulate the blood flow and help in hypertension. These dried small shrimps/ 虾皮 is so delicious that it helps to improve appetite in the elderly. You can make it into powder form ( wash, pat dry, pan-fry it a wok with a little oil/without until crispy and brown and then process in a food processor until it turns into powder) and sprinkle on rice or porridge.
It is suitable for all ages, elderly, pregnant women, people with cardiovascular disease, kidney deficiency, impotence, male infertility and weakness of waist and legs. But it is NOT suitable for people suffering from allergic rhinitis, bronchitis, recurrent allergic dermatitis in the elderly and people with chronic disease.
One thing worth mentioning though, while doing the research on this, I found that this 虾皮 is not suitable to consume at night or before going to bed. As the extra calcium that wouldn't be absorbed by the intestine needed to be discharged. And the peak hours for the calcium to be discharged from the body was 4-5 hours after a meal. So eating 虾皮 at night might prevent the discharge of the extra calcium through urination as you would be asleep at that time. So, the calcium in the urine would be trapped and deposited in the urinary tract and overtime would form the urinary tract stones.
I found the above sources from various Chinese sites. Fill me in if you know more about this dried small shrimps.
This easy veggie dish is very delicious! You should try it and feedback to me ya!
Ingredients:
- 1 head of romaine lettuce, wash and cut into pieces
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, slice thinly
- 1 handful of dried small shrimps/ 虾皮 , about 1/4 cup, rinse and pat dry with paper towel
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp. chicken powder
- Chinese white rice wine
Method:
1. Heat up your wok. When heated, add in some cooking oil of your choice. When hot, add in the dried small shrimps and stir-fry until golden brown and crispy. Dish out and set aside.
2. In the same wok, add in more oil if needed. Add in the garlic and fry until slightly brown. Add in the harder part of the romaine lettuce first. Stir-fry well. Then add in the greener part of the lettuce. Stir-fry well.
3. Add salt, mix well. Add some Chinese white rice wine and the chicken powder. Stir well and serve on a plate.
That sounds like a healthy dish with a punch from the dried shrimps!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the tips on 虾皮 - the shopping part and the consumption part. I use 虾皮 at home, so these are handy tips. But I usually use a little, so shd be ok.
ReplyDeleteYes Daphne and delicious too!
ReplyDeleteTigerfish, I also felt that way, since I only used a little bit to cook and divided by 4, so it should be okay. I did add this later in my post and it went missing too, guess whatever were added on that day went missing.
Oooh I love those little crispy shrimp that adds such flavoursome texture to the vegetables.
ReplyDelete