Shrimps in Caramelized Dark Soy Sauce

My recent attempt to cook caramel shrimps bring back memories of this shrimp in dark soy sauce. We (my brother and I) "stumbled" upon this in a small "restaurant" on a jetty in Penang island. It is quiet similar to the Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp but the sweet dark soy sauce adds a rich flavor to it.

Ingredients:
12 large shrimps, cleaned and de-veined (keep the shell and head intact)
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine or sherry
1 small clove garlic, chopped
2 - 3 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce (sweet dark soy sauce)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp water
2 tsp sugar


Marinate the shrimps with the cooking wine for 5 minutes. Dilute dark soy sauce together with soy sauce and water. Add in the sugar and stir.

Add the cooking oil into a hot wok or pan. Add chopped garlic and saute for few seconds. Add shrimp into the wok or pan and stir. Cook the shrimps on each side for about 1 or 2 minutes or until they turn pink (cooked). Add in the dark soy sauce, soy sauce and sugar mixture and stir to coat the shrimp with the sauce. Let the sauce reduce (as you can see in the photo, the sauce is almost dried out), stirring occasionally to make sure that the shrimp is evenly coated with the sauce. Turn off the heat and serve with other dishes.

I considered this a side dish. Great for appetizer as well.