We discovered the mantis shrimps by accident, when we went to buy some fish. They look a little bit like intruders from the depths of the oceans or like the Matrix bug (the one they had to suck out of Neo’s belly). Anyway, their tasty meat is definitely worth a try. But this recipe will work with prawns or beef, too.
For 2 servings:
200 g rice noodles
1/4 yellow mango
5 mantis shrimps
30 g macadamia nuts
30 g soy vinaigrette
10 g dried Chinese mushroom
1 courgette
50 g cucumber
50 g white asparagus
1 lime
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs Sriracha
garlic shootsFor the batter:
1 egg
100 g plain flour
salt pepper
Soak the rice noodles in 1 l of boiling water and leave them to soften for about 10 minutes. You can also soak the mushrooms. Drain the noodles and put aside. Clean the mushrooms and cut into thin strips. Roast the nuts in a pan or oven until golden brown.
The mantis shrimps need to be peeled and cleaned, scissors are probably the best in this case. Turn them “on the back” and cut lengthways. Then it is quite simple to pick out the meat: shells can be used for another recipe. There is relatively little meat inside and after frying it shrinks in half, so make sure to buy enough.
Cut the mantis shrimps into smaller pieces, season them and coat in plain flour. Then mix the egg with a little milk, stir in the flour and make a smooth batter. Coat the meat in the batter and fry at 170 degrees until golden brown. Dry on a kitchen towel and season immediately.
Cut the vegetables into strips, add mushrooms and fry in some oil (except cucumber, which I used raw), add noodles and stir. Add oyster sauce, vinaigrette and Sriracha. Put everything on a plate add the mango, nuts and mantis shrimps. Finally, dress with garlic shoots and lime slices.
