Halabos na Hipon

The easiest way to cook shrimp (hipon) is halabos-style.  The most basic halabos is simply ginger, salt, water and shrimp!  But I like a few more ingredients and I usually cook my halabos with ginger, garlic, red onions, wansoy, leeks, rice wine, salt and water.  I tried using Sprite once before (suggestion of a friend) but it seemed strange (at least to me) so I stuck to my usual concoction.

This time, however, I tried using Thai fish sauce instead of salt.... and added a couple of dried chili, for hubby's benefit (he loves a bit of a spicy kick!)...

And I always have a dipping sauce on the side...

The recipe:

a lot of sliced ginger (at least 12 thin slices)
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 small onion, sliced
1 stalk leeks, sliced diagonally, white and green parts separated
1 stalk wansoy, roughly chopped
2 or 3 pieces dried chili (whole)
1/2 tablespoon rice wine
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
1/2 cup water
1 kilo really fresh, large, whole shrimp, rinsed

Saute the ginger, garlic, onion, leeks (white part only), and wansoy in very hot oil.  (I always use a wok and high heat for this recipe.)  Add the dried chili and stir a few times around the wok.  Add the shrimp and stir fry, tossing every few seconds.  Splash in the rice wine and fish sauce (and keep stirring).  Add the water (I actually use hot water).  Keep tossing and stirring.  When the shrimp turn pink/red (and usually the water has evaporated by then also), transfer the shrimp to a serving plate (keep warm while making the dipping sauce).  Garnish with the green part of the leeks.

In the same pan, saute 4 slices of ginger in a mix of olive oil and sesame oil.  Add a couple of sprigs of wansoy.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce.  Immediately add 1/4 cup of water.  Adjust seasonings (as always I add chili because hubby likes it).  And because this is a dipping sauce, I prefer it a bit on the salty side so sometimes I add a bit more soy sauce.  But keep in mind that various brands of soy sauce have varying degrees of saltiness!