Shrimp in Coconut Milk (Ginataang Hipon)

Just A Pinch Recipe Club, J. White Harris, United States.

This comes from a good friend who has traveled throughout the Philippines, which is where this originates. For the black pepper leaves, in the US, some farmers markets will sell these, if you cannot find them, fresh spinach or bok choi works well also. Two methods are listed, the alternate method is a more localized type for Thailand with added fish and using local vegetables. I made the alternate method, and it is delicious!

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Filipino

Servings servings

Ingredients

Original Method

1 kilo shrimp, shelled, deveined, tails removed, (2 lb)
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup water
1 cup fresh pepper leaves, these are black pepper leaves, or any leafy vegetable like fresh spinach or bok choi.
salt and black pepper, to taste

Alternate Method

500 grams shrimp, shelled, deveined, tails removed, (1 lb)
500 grams white fish fillets, cut into 1 inch pieces, Pangasius is perfect, (1 lb)
1 bag soup fixings, from local market
3 cups coconut milk
2 cups water
1 teaspoon pork broth powder
salt and black pepper, as desired

Instructions

Original Method

In a medium pot, add the water and coconut milk. Bring to a boil then add the shrimp, reduce to a simmer. Season with salt and black pepper as desired.
When the shrimp are pink (do not overcook the shrimp), remove from heat.
Stir in the pepper leaves or other leafy vegetable, spinach or bok choi would be good choices.
When the greens are wilted, serve.

Alternate Method

With this method, I reduced the shrimp to 500 grams (1 lb) and added 500 grams of Pangasius, which is a nice firm white fish. Also used is a bag of soup fixings from the market, the green leafy parts in this are the leaves from a vine that grows wild and is foraged for everyday.
Open the bag of soup fixings and give everything a good rinse. This bag contained carrot, pumpkin, bottle gourd, winter melon, leaves from a vine make up most of this, and oyster mushrooms.
In a medium pot, add the water and coconut milk. Bring to a near boil then add the soup fixings, pork broth powder, and season with salt and pepper as desired.
When it nearly boils again, reduce to a simmer and let this cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the fish and shrimp and stir in. When the shrimp are pink (do not overcook the shrimp), just turn off the heat, leaving the pot on the burner, and cover with a lid. After about 5 minutes, the soup is done, but can remain covered while you prepare other items. I made some rice so I just let the pot sit.
Ladle into bowls and enjoy.
I served this with a side of Persian Dill Rice.

Notes

I recently bought 1 kilo (2 lbs) of shrimp from a local vendor for 70 Baht. For 4 servings, this is about 53 cents per serving. Adding variants can increase the price slightly if decreasing the amount of shrimp, like when adding fish, but certainly less than $1 per serving.

Variant: 1. Add Straw mushrooms, sliced in half.