by Elise Bauer

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Ginger Sesame Garlic Shrimp

Name: Ginger Sesame Garlic Shrimp
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 2 to 3
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1/4 cup soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce for gluten-free version); 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar; 2 teaspoons brown sugar; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil; 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbsp); 1 Tbsp grated ginger; 1 pound 16-20 count shrimp, peeled and deveined; 1 tablespoon peanut oil or canola oil; 3 green onions, including onion greens, sliced on the diagonal; 1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

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Stir-fry Chinese Gluten-Free Shrimp

Quick and easy! Shrimp marinated in a ginger sesame garlic soy sauce marinade, then quickly stir-fried.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

In a hurry? I get it. Some days there just isn’t enough time to get everything done that needs to be done!

Those days are the reason I keep a bag of shrimp in the freezer. Shrimp quickly defrost in cold water and cook in only a few minutes.

My favorite way to cook shrimp is to stir-fry it, just barely enough to cook it through. Too much cooking and you end up with something rubbery and dry.

This stir-fry shrimp is perfect for a quick midweek meal. You marinate the shrimp in a soy sauce mixture with ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and rice vinegar, and then cook it on almost-smoking high heat for just a couple of minutes.

Toss with some sliced green onions, sprinkle with sesame seeds and you’re done! Great with rice, noodles, spinach or bok choy.

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Ginger Sesame Garlic Shrimp Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yield: Serves 2 to 3

To easily thaw frozen shrimp, place in a large bowl of water with ice cubes.

Ingredients

Marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce for gluten-free version)
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp grated ginger

Shrimp:

1 pound 16-20 count shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon peanut oil or canola oil
3 green onions, including onion greens, sliced on the diagonal
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Method

1 Marinate the shrimp: In a medium bowl whisk together the soy sauce, seasoned rice vinegar, and brown sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Then whisk in the olive oil, sesame oil, minced garlic, and grated ginger. Place the shrimp in the bowl with the marinade. Toss to coat with the marinade and chill until ready to cook.

2 Toast sesame seeds: If you haven't already done so, toast the sesame seeds in a small sauté pan on medium high heat until lightly browned.

3 Stir-fry shrimp and green onions: Heat cooking oil in a large stick-free sauté pan or wok (can use seasoned cast iron) on high heat. When the oil is shimmering hot, almost smoking, use a slotted spoon to move the shrimp from the marinade into the hot pan. (Watch out, it will splatter.) Stir-fry for a minute.

Add half of the sliced green onions. Continue to stir fry, turning the individual shrimp over if necessary, until the shrimp are pink and just cooked through. No more than 2 minutes max total cooking time, a minute on each side.

4 Reduce marinade: Remove shrimp from pan and transfer to a serving bowl. Place the remaining marinade in the hot sauté pan and simmer it until it has reduced to a syrup.

5 Pour sauce over shrimp, sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions: Pour over the shrimp. Toss to coat. Sprinkle the shrimp with toasted sesame seeds and remaining green onions.

Serve immediately with rice, soba noodles, rice noodles, bok choy, spinach, broccoli, or asparagus.

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Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.

27 Comments / Reviews

Ginger Sesame Garlic Shrimp Cancel reply

Heather

Delicious!!! I have a friend who was just diagnosed with GERD and this was the first thing they ate without being in pain (I did cut back on the garlic). Everyone else at the party loved it too and multiple people asked for the recipe

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- March 16, 2020
- · Reply
Richard

Followed recipe to the T. Way too salty. Keep Googling.
- July 12, 2019
- · Reply
Kate

Fast and easy! I used low sodium soy sauce and a little extra garlic and ginger. I sautéed a bowl of precut stir fry veggies (from Trader Joe’s) while marinating the shrimp. Put the veggies on the side and cooked shrimp per recipe. Instead of reducing sauce I thickened a little bit and then added back in the shrimp and veggies. Delicious! Next time I’d add a little spice – maybe use a chili sesame oil or add red chili flakes. I could see this working with chicken also!! Thanks for another great recipe!

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- · Reply
Tessa

This was so good. Out of desperation I had to make a couple of substitutions. I used regular Rice Vinegar so to add a bit of extra sweetness I replaced Soy Sauce for a sweet Soy Sauche (Ketjap Manis) and added a bit of Honey to replace the brown sugar. Sadly I didn’t have sesame seeds but I’m sure that would have been perferct. I’ll definitely make this again. This may have been the best shrimp I’ve had in a while.
- · Reply
Paul G

Wow, excellent and easy to make. A bit salty though, best to use low sodium soy sauce.

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- · Reply

Keva

Deliciously simple!
- · Reply
Donna

We made this tonight and found it too salty. I’m thinking I may have marinaded it too long. How long do you recommend? We mixed the shrimp with our Sesame noodles and that did tone down the saltiness. Next time, low salt soy and low salt rice vinegar. I may also up the brown sugar to match our noodle recipe.
- · Reply
Ann Satterthwaite

My daughter and I made this this evening and it was delicious. We wanted to use up some zucchini, so we started stir-frying them, and then followed the rest of the recipe. I did have to substitute dark soy for light, as I had run out of light, and the resulting sauce was Crazy salty! But oh, so good at the same time. I don’t know if it was the dark soy, or we might just use less soy sauce in the future. And we will make this in the future!
- · Reply
- Elise Bauer
  
  Hi Ann, I’m so glad you liked it!
  - · Reply
lisa

WoW I made this – but a bit different. No rice vinegar on hand used red wine and regular mixed. When I tasted the ‘broth’ before marinating it needed ‘something’ A bit of lime zest did the trick. OMWow just grilled a couple of the shrimp and cannot wait to do them all and put them on rice!! Awesome recipe
- · Reply
Ashley

I’m from Florida were we are blessed to have shrimp in abundance. Since the shrimp, I will be using is fresh and will be naturally salty, should alter soy sauce amount? Also, is the reduced sauce/marinade enough to coat the shrinp and some Japanese noodles mixed into the pan? Been craving some shrimp and Japanese noodles-thanks for this recipe!
- · Reply
- Elise Bauer
  
  Hi Ashley, I wouldn’t alter the soy sauce amount, but that’s just me. Everybody’s preference for salt differs. As for the amount of sauce, it depends on the amount of noodles you are adding. I would try it first as written, then if you need more sauce, you can make more the next time.
  - · Reply
Mary Stephani

Had this recipe in reserve since Fall and made it this evening. Outstanding!! Did use a little less soy sauce, and had to substitute Penzey’ s ground ginger for fresh. This is a dish ready for company!!
- · Reply
Oak

I made this last night and yes, I agree, it was delicious with just right amount of ginger and garlic. However, the 1/4 cup of soy sauce was really too much. Maybe the gluten free version has less sodium? Will definitely make it again, with and eye on the saltiness.

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- · Reply
Juliana

I made this last night and my family loved them! Served with roasted asparagus. the sauce was a huge hit as well – just enough garlic and ginger to make the dish flavorful but not overpowering.
- · Reply
Kyle

I have always loved shrimp but was running out of ways to prepare it until now. Thank you for the new recipe.
- · Reply
Jane

Made this yesterday, it was absolutely delicious – we made spring onion pancakes and wrapped the sticky prawns in them, worked really well!
- · Reply
Amber

Can you use regular rice vinegar?
- · Reply
- Elise Bauer
  
  Hi Amber, you can. If you do so, you may need to add a little more sugar.
  - · Reply
mascasa

¡Fantástica receta! Fácil de preparar, con buenas fotografías y un resultado delicioso. Muchas gracias por compartirla con todos/as.
- · Reply
Bella B

I made this today and it was a hit! Thanks!
- · Reply
Leisureguy

I suggest you experiment with defrosting your shrimp in cold brine rather than cold water. I find it makes a difference for the better
- · Reply
- Elise Bauer
  
  Hi Leisureguy! I often use a light salt brine for shrimp. I do find it works best when you aren’t then putting the shrimp into a salty marinade or rub.
  - · Reply
  - Leisureguy
    
    Your point is well taken.
    · Reply
- Arcey
  
  What’s a “cold brine”? Thanks.
  - · Reply
  - Elise Bauer
    
    Hi Arcey, it’s cold salty water. Shrimp is naturally salty, so if you defrost it in plain cold water, that will leach some of the salt out. If you defrost it in cold salty water, the shrimp will retain its natural saltiness. I have found that it can be easy to overdo it on the brine when you are defrosting because you can’t guarantee the amount of time that the shrimp will be in the brine. You want the shrimp to defrost thoroughly and the time that takes will vary depending on the size of shrimp, how cold, etc. If you brine shrimp, time it. I forget the proportions offhand, but a google search will yield directions.
    · Reply
    - Leisureguy
      
      I would add that letting proteins sit in brine does affect the juiciness and texture of the protein, which is why people brine turkeys and chicken quite frequently: it’s not to make them salty, it’s to bring about good changes in the protein. Take a look at these articles for more information. The point is not to make the meat salty, but to make it more moist and tender. In fact, when I’ve brined chicken and shrimp I’ve never noticed that they’re any saltier than without brining, but perhaps I do salt them less at the table.
      
      · Reply

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Ginger Sesame Garlic Shrimp

Quick and easy! Shrimp marinated in a ginger sesame garlic soy sauce marinade, then quickly stir-fried.