It's dinner!
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Kind of a fancy dinner, but SUPER easy, I promise. Which, of course, is the best kind of fancy dinner, amirite?
I'm right.
This was actually Jay's idea; he mentioned "Asian Shrimp and Grits" about 10 years ago and I was all "what does that mean" and he was all "here are 9,000 Asian ingredients, don't they sound good all together?"
They did not. So I made this! And these ingredients are good together. 3 components, a little sauce, a few toppers, boom dinner.
You need shrimp, a green onion, garlic, bok choy, and a tube of polenta. Then for seasonings we have sesame oil, mirin, soy sauce, corn starch, honey, and sriracha sauce. 
Then a topping! Wasabi edamame. These are TOTALLY optional, but super cute and add a nice flavor and crunch to the finished dish, kind of like you'd have peanuts on top of Pad Thai. Riiiight? Works great. 
So, how you work this whole thing is up to you, but I ended up using 3 skillets for each of the components. You can also use one skillet, make one item at a time, and then layer it all together and serve this not piping hot, which is 100% still delicious. So, work it as you see fit. For prep, slice the onion and bok choy and mince the garlic. Separate the white and green parts of the scallion, we'll use them in separate parts of the dish later. 
Then, measure the corn starch, honey, mirin, and soy sauce into a little dish for the teriyaki sauce. 
Stir it together and set it aside with the veggies until you're ready to use it. 
I started with the polenta. Just slice it into rounds, and heat a skillet to medium-high heat with some oil. Add the polenta. 
Now, let the polenta crisp for about 4 minutes on the first side, then very gently flip the pieces over. At this point add a little drizzle of sesame oil - just a little bit! If you use a nonstick pan the polenta will flip with no problem. If you use a cast iron skillet like I did here be sure that there's a nice crust on the polenta - just like steak, it should flip easily. If it doesn't, let it cook for a few more minutes. 
While the polenta is working, you can have 2 other skillets preheating for the bok choy and the shrimp - they both take about 5 minutes. So, when you flip the polenta, add the bok choy, garlic, and scallion whites to one pan and the shrimp to another, both with a little bit of oil. 
Let the greens and shrimp cook for 2 minutes, then stir the greens and flip the shrimp. 
Add a dash of soy sauce and sriracha to the greens, then pour the teriyaki sauce into the pan with the shrimp. It'll bubble and thicken almost immediately. When that happens we're done! If the sauce thickens too much, splash in just a little bit of water until it's the consistency of a thick syrup. 
To serve this, I like to layer some of the polenta rounds...
...then some of the greens...
...then some of the shrimp in that ridiculous sauce with the scallion greens and edamame. 
Add some extra sriracha if you're feeling super sexy! If there was ever an Asian shrimp and grits, this would totes be it. I love this meal because the flavors are great but once you get everything kind of prepped there's very little cooking time involved. 
And also. This teriyaki sauce? Use it on EVERYTHING, homies. You can definitely make a bigger batch just to keep around! Try it first with shrimp, and go from there. Enjoy this!
Recipe
Crispy Polenta w/ Garlic Bok Choy + Honey Teriyaki Shrimp
Ingredients
- FOR THE SHRIMP
- ¾ pound peeled deveined shrimp
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon honey
- FOR THE POLENTA
- 1 tube polenta
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- FOR THE BOK CHOY
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- 3 heads baby bok choy thinly sliced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 1 green onion thinly sliced, whites and greens separated
- 2 tablespoons roasted wasabi edamame optional, for topping
Instructions
- NOTE: I cook the shrimp, bok choy, and polenta separately in 3 skillets all at the same time. If you'd like to save on dishes, cook the dishes in one skillet, starting with the polenta, then the bok choy, then the shrimp.
- For the polenta, heat a large skillet to medium-high heat with the vegetable oil. Cut the polenta into 9 equal rounds. When the oil is hot, add the polenta and let sit for 4 minutes, then flip. The polenta should be browned and crispy on the first side. When you flip the polenta, add the sesame oil to the skillet evenly. Continue cooking the polenta on the second side until browned, then set aside until ready to serve.
- For the shrimp, combine the mirin, soy sauce, corn starch, honey, and 2 tablespoons water in a small dish. Preheat a skillet to medium-high heat with the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and cook for 90 seconds on the first side. Flip the shrimp and add the teriyaki sauce to the pan. The sauce will bubble and thicken immediately. Turn the heat off the shrimp to let the shrimp finish cooking in the warm sauce.
- For the bok choy, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and white parts of the onions and cook for 1 minute. Add the bok choy, soy sauce, and sriracha and cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring a few times, until the greens have softened.
- To serve, layer polenta, then bok choy, then shrimp. Top with the green parts of the onions, the roasted wasabi edamame (if using), and extra sriracha, if you'd like. Enjoy!
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