This is the dinner for Monday and Tuesday in my series, “My Gut-Friendly, Balanced, What I Eat Series” — the series where I share with you all the meals Grandmaster Lim, my source for gut health and ancient East Asian wellness techniques for my body, crafted together for me to eat throughout the week. I had asked him to help me put together recipes with which the ingredients are easy to access for most (aka not only Korean food which most of my recipes are comprised of). All of these ingredients are thoughtfully paired to provide energy and/or be balanced, nutritious, or gut-friendly.

Why This Meal?

Shrimp provides a lot of antioxidants, and this recipe opts to keep the peel on because the peel contains a lot of protein that we want to keep. However as we know, there’s a lot of cholesterol in shrimp, which is why we’re pairing it with the miso. Miso is made of lecithin-rich soybeans, which helps strengthen blood vessels and lowers cholesterol. However, miso is high in sodium, so too much consumption and having it daily isn’t recommended for me. Nevertheless, the rice helps to balance out the salt.

Ingredients:

• Shrimp

  • 10 raw shrimp with shell-on, head removed

    • Note: I have the shells off in these pics because I was unaware you had to keep them on for the added boost of protein

  • 4 tablespoons of butter unsalted or ghee

  • 4 cloves of garlic and/or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

  • 1 teaspoon of onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon of black pepper

  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt

  • 1 cup of white glutinous rice (gluten-free)

    • Note: Prepare sticky white rice in a rice cooker ahead of time before cooking so it’s ready. If you don’t have a rice cooker, than cook in a pot (instructions below)

• Miso

  • 3 tablespoons of miso

  • 4 cups of water

  • 1 scallion

Directions:

• Sticky Rice (if you’re cooking in a pot and not in a rice cooker)

  • Add 1 cup of rice to a pot. Rinse the rice in cold water 4-5 times or until the rice becomes clear.

  • Refill the pot with 1.5 cup of water (sometimes Koreans soak the rice beforehand and use a 1:1 ratio of rice to water, but for the sake of time, we’re going to use a 1:1.5 ratio).

  • Place the lid on the pot, put it on high heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, keeping the lid on the whole time.

  • Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 more minutes.

  • Turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. Make sure the lid is on the whole time.

    • Note: For the next day, you can save this cooked rice (1 cup is usually 2 servings) and microwave it to heat it up the next day.

• Butter Shrimp Over Rice

  • Using a knife, thinly slice the back of the shrimp, halfway — peel on. Devein.

  • Heat butter or ghee over medium high heat. Then add raw garlic to the pan, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.

    • Note: I used ghee — it’s more gut-friendly and Indians have been using it in Ayurveda for centuries. It has a high smoke point and more of a nutty flavor.

  • Add garlic powder and onion powder, salt and pepper. Then, add the shrimp. Fry on both sides for 3-4 minutes on each side.

  • If you have sticky white rice, serve the shrimp over the white rice on a plate. Drizzle the seasoned ghee or butter on top along with the garlic.

    • Note: You can choose to save half of the shrimp for the next day, or set aside in the beginning to cook again the next day so it’s fresh!

• Miso Soup

  • Add 4 cups of water to a pot on high heat. Add miso to the pot and break apart until it’s completely smooth and dissolved into the water. Cook for 5 minutes.

  • Chop scallions and add as much as you’d like.