
Okay. I was a little tough on modern day kids and their eating habits in my last post. So I thought it was only fair to set the record straight on my own (less than perfect) childhood food foibles. This Fried Udon-Wrapped Shrimp with Cucumber Salad recipe is a grown-up “do-over” from my very own childhood.
When I was a kid, there was nothing better than dinner out at a Chinese restaurant. My mother would get all dressed up like a movie star and my dad (then a young medical intern) would arrange his 16 hour shifts so that he could actually eat dinner with us. My brother, sister and I would even make an effort to behave in the car.
That’s because we were off to the land of all you can eat stale-crispy-noodles and fried shrimp– a place where we’d be allowed to drink hot tea and totally amp out on caffeine. Quiet and reserved was my typical modus operandi in public places (I wasn’t just a wallflower at this age I was wallpaper), but for some reason I’d lose all my inhibitions at Chinese restaurants.
Fried Udon-Wrapped Shrimp
I’m not saying that there were any Vietnam era Chinese restaurants in Salt Lake City, Utah that served Fried Udon-Wrapped Shrimp. No, these places were more likely to serve Moo Goo Gai Pan, sweet and sour pork or a style of fried rice that looked more like an omelette than any sort of grain. There was also hot tea served in tiny little cups from a tiny little teapot of my own. Either my parents had no idea what caffeine did to kids, or they just didn’t care– but I was never more animated than I was when I had to decide between Family Style Dinner #1 and Family Style Dinner #2.
I’m not saying that my parents didn’t do their best with we three kids in those days. But you have to remember my parents were practically babies themselves; they had a lot of growing up to do. My mother’s interest in French cooking was still a few years in the future. The “fancy” restaurants that my parents would soon favor (and finally be able to afford) were just a part of their fantasy life in those days. If stale-crispy-noodles and fried shrimp would keep their three kids occupied for 2 whole hours on the one night a week they (almost) had alone together, then those three kids got all the stale-crispy-noodles and fried shrimp my parents could afford.
Things changed for my family. I like to say Julia Child moved in. There was a big house and a modern kitchen. There was French food unlike anything the other kids were eating. But as the oldest of the three kids in my family, I was the only one who remembered the stale-crispy-noodles and fried shrimp from our Family Style Dinners #2.
Fried Udon-Wrapped Shrimp is my modern day reinterpretation of those childhood favorites. It may not take the place of those Chinese dinners where an 8 year old me could fawn over his movie star mom while singing the songs he’d be too shy to sing at school– but I promise you these shrimp are delicious and remind me of Family Style Dinners. GREG
Loved every word of this, my little wallpaper.
So creative! I never thought of wrapping shrimp (or anything) with udon noodles! This is awesome. I love the crunchy texture and plump shrimp inside.
Great idea wrapping the shrimp in the noodles, bet the resulting crunch awesome!
Great recipe, wonderful narrative. Just an all around good post. Thanks.
I’ve actually never tried to fry with udon…it makes me want to try other noodles too. I wonder how soba would hold up…
My childhood memories consist more of beans on toast and overcooked vegetables and meat, and never an egg roll in sight, but, I do love to explore other cultures. My own daughter was certainly given the opportunity to expand her horizons.
Loved your family reminiscence. I think we all experienced those family dinners in Chinese restaurants. Nice re-do!
Not just a wallflower, but wallpaper :)) Love your stories and the tangle of noodles that makes this crispy shrimp!
Huge, giant, Texas-sized props to your parents. During Mark’s intern year, we could barely handle one puppy. I still have the blankets with chewed holes that demonstrate just how barely.
We ate out on either Friday or Sunday nights at the Canton Inn (which was a restaurant, not a motel?). Not a buffet; we thought it was the best ever. I wonder if I’d think that now. Big fat egg rolls! The owner lady running around like crazy. It was the only Chinese place in town.
I remember my Mom dressing up “like a movie star” too AND the influence of Julia Child. The result: never a meatloaf- often a spinach soufflé. The recipe looks intriguing! Gorgeous with the threads of udon entangling the shrimp! Brava! {Julia smiles}
I’m convinced the reason I “didn’t like vegetables” as a kid was because no one ever exposed me to salads like these. Love me some spicy cukes:)