Lucky Shrimp and Lotus Seeds is light, flavorful, crispy, crunchy, lucky Chinese stir fry that you can have on your table in 15 minutes flat. Fabulous way to ring in the Chinese New Year!
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Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year falls on the first day of the month of the new lunar calendar. We need to celebrate with more delicious Chinese dishes to make this Lunar New Year feel special.
Sharing Different Cultures and Food
I am blessed to have many friends who love teach me about their unique cultures and foods. It is fascinating to learn about this holiday's significance and all of the symbolism behind it. When family and friends gather, it is time to celebrate and look forward to all things good and new and the main way they do this is through food.
Yes-food! When it comes down to it. We are all the same in every culture. We gather! We socialize! We eat! From East to West this concept is one that is the same in every region. Well maybe an exception is at a weight watcher's meeting...
Food Symbolism
One of the aspects of this yearly celebration that is commonly emphasized is the foods that are eaten. My Chinese friends tend to associate certain foods with the things they wish for the New Year, like prosperity, fertility, and good health, based on the symbolism evoked by these foods.
For example, lotus root in Cantonese sounds very similar to the expression year after year. Eating our Spicy Lotus Root Stir Fry may help you bring abundance and prosperity in the new year.
What are Lotus Seeds?
Lotus seeds are seeds from the lotus flowers that grow in ponds.
Today I am going to make a quick and easy Chinese stir fry dish using fried lotus seeds and shrimp. Lotus seeds come from the beautiful lotus flower that grows in ponds and rivers. Have you ever been to People's Park in Shanghai, China? The pond in Peoples' Park is filled with gorgeous lotus flowers as far as you can see.
Lotus Seed Symbolism
In the Chinese culture, lotus seeds symbolizes fertility and good luck. More specifically lotus seeds are exactly what you need for a bountiful year with new bouncing babies in your home. So if you are like me with grown teenagers in the house and wish for no more, go easy on this dish...
I am hosting a Chinese family for a little lunar year celebration. So you may ask, what are you going to cook? Chinese dishes of course and I best brush up on my Mandarin.
How to Prepare Dried Lotus Seeds?
Dried lotus seeds cannot be eaten straight out of the bag. Here is the preparation method...
- Soak lotus seeds in water overnight
- Remove the green part in the lotus seed with a toothpick if you want to keep them whole or cut them and remove the inner green part. This little green part is very bitter.
- The easiest method is to cook them in the pressure cooker (Instant Pot) for about 10 minutes with about a 10 minute natural release of pressure. Alternatively, you can cook them on the stove top until tender. From there, they can be used in many recipes.
Entrée
However, I think sometimes simple is best, especially when your hosting a meal offering maybe 4-5 Chinese entrée dishes. My goal was to create a light and easy dish that whipped up in less than 15 minutes flat using my lucky lotus seeds. We created Lucky Shrimp and Lotus Seeds and it is sublime.
How to Make?
I started out with usual stir fry with a little oil then added garlic (of course!) a little onion, baby corn and then some fresh shrimp from the wet market, created a cornstarch flavored slurry and then finished off the dish some baby peas and sprinkled crunchy fried lotus seeds on top of the dish.
15 Minute Dinner
This Chinese dish is light, flavorful, crispy, crunchy, lucky and I had it on the table in less than 15 minutes flat. Good luck shrimp and lotus seeds is also gluten-free. If you do not have or can't get your hands on lotus seeds, no worries as this dish is flavorful and delicious even without.
More Chinese New Year Recipes
Spicy Beef and Longevity Noodles
Sticky Rice Chinese New Year Cake
10 Fun and Easy Chinese New Year Recipes
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Lucky Shrimp and Lotus Seeds
Equipment
- Instant Pot optional
Ingredients
Lotus Seeds (optional)
- lotus seeds
(after soaked and pressure cooked) - handful sprinkled on top - optional garnish - water to soak lotus roots and to cook in pressure cooker
Lucky Shrimp Stir Fry
- 20 shrimp
(large, deveined and heads and tails off) - 1 cup baby corns cut on a diagonal
- ½ cup peas
- ¼ onion
small peeled and chopped - 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon chicken powder
(gluten free) or chicken bouillon - 1 teaspoon or to taste - 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- white pepper
to taste - 1 tablespoon oil
- lotus seeds soaked and cooked - optional (Dish is also delicious with fried cashews or peanuts as a topping)
Instructions
Optional - Lotus Seed Preparation
- If you plan on topping with optional Lotus seeds, soak dried lotus seeds in water overnight. Then, you can either use a toothpick to remove the green vein that is bitter or chop in half to remove. Then place lotus seeds in the pressure cooker (instant pot) and cover with an inch or 2 of water. Set the pressure cooker on high and cook for 10 minutes. Allow to naturally pressure release for 10 minutes and then release pressure. Drain and dry.
Lucky Shrimp Stir Fry
- Gather all your supplies and have everything chopped, cleaned and ready to go into the wok.
- Make your Cornstarch slurry mixture: In a little cup, place ¼ cup warm water and mix in your gluten free chicken powder until dissolved. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch, sesame oil and white pepper to taste and stir. Set aside.
- In a wok or frying pan place olive oil and turn on burner to medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and stirfry until translucent.
- Add the baby corn and add a splash of water (couple of tablespoons and then place a lid on to top to help steam for about 1-2 minutes) Take the lid off of the vegetable-do not over cook, just until firm aldente.
- Add the shrimp and keep stirring until they turn slightly pink, then add your optional lotus seeds and stir fry for a minute of 2 and then your cornstarch slurry mixture.
- Add your peas and keep stirring until the mixture is light and has a silky broth. If broth is too thin add more diluted cornstarch and water. If mixture is too thick, add more water. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Set your lucky shrimp stir fry on to a serving platter and enjoy with steamed rice.
Norma Chang says
First,allow me to compliment you on your new site. Your shrimp dish is gorgeous. Never heard of fried lotus seed, is this a Vietnamese specialties? Must pay attention next time I make a trip to NYC.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Norma and a thank you kindly for your comment. These lotus seeds happen to be from Vietnam but also available in many of the Chinese medicine shops and markets here in Hong Kong as this is the time of the year that people make the sweet treats with them. I really love them as they are so light and crunchy and not dense like a nut. A fun snack just plain out of the bag or in a dish. Take care, BAM
sugaredpecan says
This dish looks might good! And beautiful presentation!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Donna. This is a great weeknight meal when you want something fast, light and easy. Take care, BAM
Purabi Naha says
Lotus seeds are really auspicious for the Chinese and I knew this when we were living in Hong Kong. Your dish is really looking flavourful and something I can dig into right now. Only I will eat those seeds with caution, owing to the "baby" factore associated! LOL!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you very much and if you wishing to keep your family size in check go a little easy on this dish....Sad to hear that you are not still in HK but looking forward to keeping in touch through our recipes. Take care, BAM
rsmacaalay says
Nice, really nice. Look at that shrimps in that sauce. Happy Chinese New Year to you, I bet you enjoy it well from your place
Healthy World Cuisine says
Kung Hei Fat Choi Ray! It has been really nice here in HK with lots of action and New Years celebration scheduled through the end of this month. (Dragon dances, decorations, fireworks, and of course lots and lots of food.) Take care, BAM
Jasline says
I love to eat shrimps (in fact I just blogged about it yesterday haha!), but I've never heard of them being stir-fried with lotus seeds. I see lotus seeds more commonly used in desserts, so this is definitely an interesting savoury twist!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Jasline, great minds think alike. I know that lotus seeds are commonly used in desserts and candied a little snacks but I wanted to think outside the box and make for a lower calorie, diabetic friendly option. Take care, BAM
ChgoJohn says
Buona Sera, BAM. This is such a beautiful dish! What I love about most Asian fare is that it is a colorful assortment of fresh-looking ingredients. Your dish here does all of that for me, BAM. And your post makes me feel like I could actually make this -- given the right ingredients and a half hour prep time. I really should give it a try. Thanks, BAM.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Grazie John. If you can make very difficult pasta and cheeses, then Asian stir frys will be a breeze for you. It is just a different kind of cooking instead of the long "give the dish a lot of love" slow cooking all stir fry dishes are make in less than 5 minutes and that is why having everything all prepped and ready before you get your wok hot is imperative for success. Give it a try with your local ingredients and vegetables, it is very easy. Take care, BAM
Jeno @ Weeknite Meals says
Love the new look Bam! Happy CNY to you and yours! We didn't do too much to celebrate this year, a lot of relatives were out of town, plus to tell you the truth, things aren't just that exciting here at Houston. Love the recipe you shared, never had savory lotus seeds!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks for coming on over to visit my new site. Happy belated CNY to you! I know that when you are living abroad things celebrating holidays just feel different. I hope, however, that you can still keep some family traditions going as your kids will love you for that. I really enjoy reading your facebook posts and your gorgeous, easy recipes that are fund to make at home. Take care, BAM
Carolyn Chan says
Hope you had a great start to the lunar new year ! This dish looks delicious !
Healthy World Cuisine says
Happy Chinese New Year to you and wishing you a very healthy and prosperous year. Take care, BAM
Kristy says
The new site looks great BAM! And so does this dish. I can't get enough shrimp - anyway it's served or cooked is good with me. 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Kristy. I also love shrimp and I can't wait to share with everyone a fantastic little dish I was inspired to make during my last visit to Thailand. I think your going to love it. Stay tuned. Take care, BAM
Choc Chip Uru says
The colours are so beautiful my friend as our the flavours together 🙂
I wish I ate shrimp!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hi there CCU, I can make a vegetarian stirfry dish for you. Do you eat tofu? Tofu is a great exchange in this dish. Take care, BAM
john@kitchenriffs says
Great looking dish! Those peas add such nice vibrant color - they really stand out and make the entire dish look so enticing. Lovely flavor combo. And I really like the idea of adding chicken powder to the water when you make the cornstarch slurry - that's a technique that's new to me, and I'll definitely use it. Good stuff - thanks.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you John and I see that you are on a shrimp kick this week too. Great minds think alike! I came up with this process of making cooking pre-made stations and setting up my cornstarch slurries or sauces in advance for when I conduct my cooking classes. It is a huge time saving factor as when that wok is hot, you have to be ready to cook. Take care, BAM
Dawn says
Thanks Bam! If I could eat shrimp, I am sure I would love it!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Can you eat Tofu? Tofu is a great substitution for this dish. Take care, BAM
nancyc says
Great photos, and this dish looks so good! You have a beautiful site!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you very much Nancy! I have been trying to respond and comment on your site but I think all of my comments are going to everyone's spam box. Can you please check for me. Take care, BAM
Mich Piece of Cake says
Bam, your prawn dish is making me drool. Though it isn't quite lunch time, but its making me hungry and I wish I could have this with my rice for lunch.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you, I will send a plate right on over for you. Happy cooking to you. Take care, BAM
albertocook says
I like this!