Papaya-Mustard Shrimps

An unctuous orange sauce made out of papaya and white wine mustard covers the shrimps. Accompanied by a crunchy yellow bell pepper and cilantro leaves for an asian/tropical influence. A lovely recipe with lots of character!

This flavor is a combination of sweet and sour with a touch of spice, it has an asian/tropical side to it, or more precisely it’s a kind of curry with extra mustard flavor. Fresh, light and easy to prepare, another beloved “done under 30 minutes” meal. I’ve used a wok for this recipe although a pan would do as well. A nice crunchy yellow bell pepper and cilantro leaves are going to accompany to perfection this meal. The peppers aren’t cooked here, to keep the meal extra fresh and crunchy, although if you prefer… add them to the shrimps to warm them up a bit. The highlight of the dish lie in the sweet and sour sauce, a thick sweet mustard sauce made out of mainly papaya and white wine mustard. Mustard is a great emulsifier making the sauce thick or creamy. A dish filled with flavors!

The mustard world

First of all, mustard is relatively light ingredient only containing 15 calories per teaspoon. There are 3 types of mustard grains (black, brown and white) although only the brown and the white are used to make the mustard paste, the black one is added to mustard paste to give it a crunch. The brown grain as a stronger, spicier note to it, while the white one is relatively soft. Then again, there are different intensities in mustard flavors, whether it’s mixed with vinegar, wine or cold water. The vinegar neutralizes the spices from the mustard and makes it milder, the cold water keeps all the compounds intact keeping all the mustard grains sharpness intact. The wine version is the “in between” of the two methods above, in my opinion the best type of all mustards are the ones done with wine (white wine, whole grain mustard). In the south of Germany, they have a great sweet mustard made with whether apple sauce or honey while in England they have the opposite; the “hot mustard” which is powerful and going up to the nose in no time with its spicy/bold notes. Of course, in between are many many more variation and flavors (dijon, etc). For this recipe, I’ve used one of my favorite mustard, the one I used the most; the white wine mustard. It’s a perfect fit to this recipe, it balance to perfection the sweet papaya. I encourage you to use the same one, because the result can differ greatly with a stronger or softer type of mustard.

So let’s make this flavorful dish going!

Papaya-Mustard Shrimps

Makes 2 portions | Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 200g Shrimps
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper sliced
• 1 tbsp cooking oil (peanut, vegetable)
• 1/2 garlic clove minced
• cilantro leaves to taste

The papaya-mustard sauce

• 100g papaya
• 30ml of white wine mustard
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp of white rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
  
• 1 tbsp of honey (maple syrup or sugar)
• 1/2 tsp of fish sauce (salt or soy sauce)
• 1/4 tsp of sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp of chilli in oil

Direction

1. Blend all the ingredients from the sauce together, reserve
2. In a wok, high heat, cook the shrimps in the peanut oil and cook them through (about 3 minutes)
3. 30 seconds before the end, add the garlic
4. 15 seconds before the end, add the papaya sauce to the shrimps, mix and cook just a few seconds only to warm it up
5. Serve on rice topped with sliced bell pepper, cilantro and scallions

Enjoy!