Sautéed garlic shrimp (from the archives)

Picture this:

Chefs in fancy kitchens splashing some mysterious liquid into the pan, acting like it’s no big deal, but it totally transforms the dish.

Well, I’m spilling the beans—or rather, the wine.

This Sautéed Garlic Shrimp dish is a beginner-friendly way to cook with wine, specifically a wine called mirin.

This ingredient is one of my secret weapons that:

• adds gentle acidity

• enhances the garlic aroma

• sweetens and glazes the shrimp

Learn how to incorporate it in this high-protein dish, and you’ve automatically leveled up your kitchen skills.

Ready to sneak this chef move into your kitchen and call it a win?"

Let’s dive in.

Few people cook with wine…

And even fewer put it in the food.

That's too bad, because the unique flavors in wine give food:

• bright acidity

• complex aromas

• natural sweetness

... in ways that no other ingredient can match.

But here's the catch:

Cooking with wine requires a light touch.

Because if you cook it too much, the sweetness can overpower your dish..

And if you don't cook it enough, your meal tastes boozy.

So let's explore how how to use wine in cooking...

Then I’ll share how I used it in this week's SIMPL recipe.

Why add wine to food?

Ever watched a restaurant cook pour a swig of wine or brandy into a pan, and "WHOOSH" it goes up in flames?

There's a reason for doing that.

Alcohol is flammable, so by setting it on fire, it burns off quicker.

And once the alcohol has evaporated, you're left with:

• water

• residual sugar

• natural flavors

Those natural grape flavors develop more fully during fermentation, becoming even more complex during the aging process.

And these oaky, fruity, earthy, mineral flavors contain some of the magic that separates great restaurant cooking from home cooking.

How to choose wines for cooking

If you think that cooking with wine is expensive, then you're spending too much.

I look for cooking wine that costs between $5-$10 per bottle.

Why so cheap?

Because the ultra-nuanced complexities that wine lovers pay outrageous sums of money for...

Are obliterated during the cooking process.

Still, wine preserves its acidity, sweetness, and the majority of its flavor even after it's cooked.

Not sure which wine to buy? Some of the most popular cooking wines include:

Red wine

Look for affordably-priced:

• Cabernet Sauvignon

• Merlot

• Syrah

• Pinot Noir

• Zinfandel

White wine

Chardonnay is most common, but some other good ones are:

• Sauvignon Blanc

• Dry Riesling

• Dry Pinot Grigio

Fortified wines

These contain higher alcohol and more pronounced flavors. Pick yourself up a bottle of:

• Sherry

• Madeira

• Marsala

• Ruby Port

How to cook with wine

The most common way wine is used in cooking is through a simple process called deglazing.

After searing a piece of meat or fish in a pan, you add the wine.

The browned bits left in the pan combine with the wine as it cooks, forming an aromatic base for the sauce.

After the alcohol cooks off, you may add stock, herbs, and vegetables to make a braised meat dish...

Or you could simply sauté and deglaze your meal prep protein with wine…

Like I did for this week's SIMPL recipe, sautéed garlic shrimp and snow peas with miso-ginger noodles.

Unlike the wines I just described, this dish uses a wine not made from grapes.

It's called mirin, and it's a sweet Japanese cooking wine made from rice.

After sautéing shrimp with garlic in a pan, it's quickly deglazed with mirin and set aside to cool.

Snow peas (quickly blanched) give the dish a bright green color, and soba noodles form this week's high-fiber carb component.

I serve this dish with a lemony miso-ginger sauce that rounds out the flavors nicely.

Serve this dish cold or hot - I enjoy it both ways.

And not to spoil your fun in the kitchen...

But since most mirin has salt (and it’s really only meant for cooking), make sure it ends up in the food...

Not your glass.

Here’s the nutrition breakdown for 1 serving:

You can get the full 5-portion recipe for this, and all my high-protein dishes when you become a SIMPL Insider.

When you upgrade, you'll also:

• Get the full-length step-by-step videos showing how I created each weekly dish

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Watch the step-by-step video (YouTube unlisted)

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Sautéed garlic shrimp and snow peas with miso-ginger noodles

Cooking time: 90 minutes

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Ingredients:

2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 ounces fresh snow peas, trimmed

8 oz dried soba noodles

½ cup mirin (sweet rice wine)

1/4 cup macadamia nuts

1/4 cup white miso paste

2 tsp agave syrup

1/2 cup avocado oil

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

kosher salt to taste

Directions

For the shrimp:

In a hot sauté pan, pour 1 Tbsp avocado oil. When the oil is smoking hot, add the garlic to the pan. When it starts to brown after a few seconds, quickly add the shrimp to the pan, and cook for 30 seconds.

Toss the shrimp in the pan several times, then add the mirin. Cook for another minute or until the shrimp turns pink, then pour the shrimp out into a container to cool.

For the snow peas:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add a handful of salt. Quickly blanch the peas for 30-60 seconds, strain them out, and transfer them to a bowl with ice water.

When they're cool, strain out the water and transfer the peas to a container lined with a dry towel.

For the noodles:

In the same pot of boiling water, cook the noodles for 8 minutes, until al denté, stirring occasionally. Strain the cooked noodles out into the sink, and run some cold water over them to cool.

Transfer the noodles to a mixing bowl, toss them with 2 Tbsp avocado oil, and set aside.

For the miso-ginger dressing:

In a small container, add the nuts, miso, ginger, lemon zest and juice, mustard, agave syrup, the remaining oil, plus 2 Tbsp water. Purée the ingredients until smooth using an upright blender or an immersion blender.

Portion out the sauce into 5 small containers, and seal them with lids.

To finish:

Divide the noodles into 5 meal prep boxes. Place the garlic shrimp on top, then garnish with the snow peas. Include 1 portion of sauce with each meal.

Seal the containers and store them in the refrigerator until you're ready to reheat in the microwave.