“Caning works! And I think it’s about time we did a little more of it right here… yes, we cane!”
My last Sunday Night Dinner Club (SNDC) of 2009 was an Asian themed dinner, not something I’m too familiar with unless it comes in the form of a plastic bag with a smiley face on it. My co-chef T2 is a good hand at all Asian, but I wasn’t willing to just sit back and pass all the duties on to him. He’s a vegetarian and my friends wouldn’t have been too impressed if there was no meat on the table.
I was discussing this particular SNDC with fellow food blogger Thrifty DC Cook and she gave me a couple of great recipes to work with.
Sugar Cane Shrimp
What drew me to this dish were the sugar canes. The only time I have sugar canes are in my mojitos and it never occurred to me they can be served with food (or a vessel for serving food).
I warn you now: sugar canes are possibly the most difficult item to acquire. I searched high and low for these suckers: Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, Giant, Safeway, Best Supermarket, Bestway Market, Yes! Organic and even the Hana Japanese Market on U St (which by the way is amazing) to no avail. I ended up at Cafe Salsa on 14th St as I’ve dined there and knew they served sugar canes in the mojitos. The chef was kind enough to sell me two cans of canes. Never be afraid to speak with chefs. If there is an ingredient you need, just ask. What’s the worst that can happen? They’ll say no, but unlikely if they have enough until the next delivery.
Sugar canes are huge, a lot larger than what I anticipated, which turned out great as I sliced each one into quarter strips. Now I have a can of them sitting in my cupboard for when I have a mojito party.
The recipe for these little beauties after the jump.
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