Shrimp On Sugar Cane (Chao Tom)

Directions

1. 1

   1 lb Raw shrimp in shell 4 Cloves garlic 1 ts Rock sugar, pounded to a -powder, or 1 teaspoon -granulated sugar 2 Egg whites, beaten until -

2. 2

   If you can't find it, you *might* get away with substituting Chinese bean sauce, mashed and thinned a bit with water, or possibly a dark Jap

3. 3

   Although you can make this in a food processor or blender, it's best to pound it in a mortar with a pestle to achieve that certain crunchine

4. 4

   Bach started using a mortar and pestle when she was thirteen years old, working with a pestle that was about a yard long and 5 inches in dia

5. 5

   Although her family hand many servants, her mother, a great cook, wanted Bach to learn to use this tool properly

6. 6

   And Bach, who loved to cook as much then as she does now, was a willing and eager student

7. 7

   In Vietnam, where this is a very important dish, both the sugar cane and shrimp, fresh from the sea, are brought to the door by the country

8. 8

   If you cannot obtain sugar cane, you can prepare this dish with crab claws instead