RECIPE DOCTOR
No need to fry lemon pepper shrimp

By Elaine Magee
Knight Ridder News Service

Q. I always order the lemon pepper shrimp when I go to P.F. Chang's (the China Bistro). I can tell from the menu description that this dish is deep-fried and I would really like to make it at home for my husband and not as heavy. Can you help?

A. You gave me an excuse to go to the P.F. Chang's near me and try this very interesting entree. Loved it! It reminded me of a sauce I put together a few years back so I dug out that sauce and added some lemon juice and thin lemon slices and coarsely ground black pepper and I think I have a near match.

As far as the breaded and fried shrimp, I coated the rinsed shrimp in rice flour then heated up a tablespoon of canola oil in my nonstick frying pan. I could brown and cook the shrimp in this little bit of oil very well thank you — the deep-frying wasn't necessary.

The restaurant serves the shrimp on a bed of bean sprouts, which I think were also fried, so I had a bed of lightly steamed bean sprouts and a side of brown rice waiting instead. I will definitely come up with excuses to make this dish again — it's now one of my favorite ways to enjoy some shrimp!

Light Lemon Pepper Shrimp

• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 12 ounces medium raw shrimp (shelled, deveined and tail pulled off)
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 8 thin lemon slices cut in half
• 1 large green onion, diagonally sliced
• 1 cup bean sprouts, lightly steamed or micro-cooked

Lemon Pepper Sauce

• 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon minced or chopped
• garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon minced ginger
• 3 tablespoons lite soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice flour dissolved in 6 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil to small, nonstick saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add minced garlic and ginger and let sizzle, stirring constantly for half a minute or so. Continue to stir while pouring in the soy sauce, rice flour and water mixture, brown sugar, lemon juice and black pepper. Bring mixture to a gentle boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 30 seconds. Set the saucepan aside.

Add rice flour to shallow small bowl and add the shrimp one by one, coating each one well with the flour. Let the shrimp sit for 10 minutes. You can cut the lemon slices or slice the green onions or lightly steam the bean sprouts while you wait.

Add 2 teaspoons canola oil to medium or large nonstick frying pan and heat over high heat. Add the shrimp to the pan, coating the tops with canola cooking spray. Let underside brown (about 3 to 4 minutes), then flip shrimp over and brown other side (2-3 minute more). Add lemon slices and green onion to pan with the shrimp and toss around for about a minute.

Pour the lemon pepper sauce into the frying pan with the shrimp and let everything cook together for a minute or two (sauce will be bubbling).

Serve each serving of shrimp over a small bed of the lightly cooked bean sprouts with a spoon of cooked brown rice on the side, if desired, and a sprinkling of sliced green onions or fresh lemon slices on top.

Makes 2 servings

Serve with a cooked brown rice for a complete meal. To make 4 servings, just double the recipe and use a medium nonstick saucepan for the sauce and a large nonstick frying pan for the shrimp.

(The original nutrition analysis on the restaurant dish is not available.)

Per serving (including bean sprouts but not including brown rice): 357 calories, 39 g protein, 26 g carbohydrate, 10 g fat (1 g saturated, 4.5 g monounsaturated, 3.2 g polyunsaturated), 259 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 996 mg sodium.

Calories from fat: 26 percent.

Omega-3 fatty acids 2 g

Omega-6 fatty acids 1 g

Weight Watchers: 7 points

Elaine Magee is author of "The Recipe Doctor Cookbook" and "Tell Me What to Eat If I Have Acid Reflux." Elaine's new book, "The Flax Cookbook" is now available in bookstores and at Amazon.com. Readers may write to her through her Web site at www.recipedoctor.com. Personal responses cannot be provided.