Quick Shrimp Hoisin or Shrimp with Cashews

Easy and quick and oh so tasty, I had to share this concoction I made last night. The colors are bright, the food healthy - serve it up with cilantro basmati rice as shown in photo. You could easily grill or sautee shrimp as well which I had originally intended to, but ended up stir frying them - the shrimp were extra juicy and bursted with amazing flavors when bitten into - now that's what I am talking about!...

Ingredients

5 jumbo shrimp per person - with shells still on, yet de-veined and cleaned. - Available this way as frozen in bags and per pound in your fish section as the store. (I went with the frozen and pick your own - they are already cleaned, deveined and can easily be thawed quickly in cold water which is what I did) - these shrimp satisfy super-picky people with their freshness - as they are cleaned and frozen basically right on the boat.
1 large red sweet bell pepper
1 large onion, cut up into large slices
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons fresh minced cilantro
2 scallions chopped
1 cup or more of snap peas
1/2 cup cashews (optional)
red chili flakes (optional)
***For marinade:
Juice and zest of one lemon
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (available in the Asian section of your grocery store - I prefer Kikomen' Hoisin Sauce) - really makes the dish!
1-2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon or more of sesame oil - really makes the dish!
1 teaspoon sugar
******
***Cooked rice ready to serve since this dish cooks up quite quickly.

Directions

Take shrimp and quick thaw if frozen in cold water, rinsing water every so often. Once thawed, drain well and pat dry shrimp well with paper towels.
In bowl, place juice and zest of one lemon, hoisin sauce, olive oil, good amount of salt and fresh cracked pepper, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Stir ingredients in bowl till incorporated.
Place now dried shrimp into bowl to marinade for at least 10 minutes and up to 2 hours for extra full flavor - stir on occasion to ensure all shrimp are covered with marinade.
***At this point, you can take shrimp outside to grill or with a little oil and butter in pan and sautee in your skillet, but the following directions is for stir frying with the remaining ingredients.
Get your wok super hot.
While wok is getting hot, cut up your red pepper, rinse your snap peas and cut up your onion.
Carefully add your wok oil or vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons and slowly tilt your wok so that oil bastes the bottom of your wok. I used stir fry oil flavored with garlic and ginger and added a little sesame oil to the mix.
Carefully add onions and peppers to your wok, since some splattering may occur due to the hot oil. Stir frequently.
Add some salt and pepper and if you would like, some red chili flakes.
Once onions and peppers cook for three minutes, add shrimp.
Since shrimp are jumbo, get them to be at the bottom, while pushing onion and peppers aside. Turn shrimp over when one side of shrimp is pink.
Add scallions, garlic and snap peas to wok. Continue cooking till shrimp are cooked (hey take one out and taste-test it like I did and you'll know you are ready!)
You may want to add 1 teaspoon sugar, additional soy sauce, hoisin sauce or sesame sauce which I did with fantastic results.
Add fresh cilantro and optional cashews just before serving.
Serve immediately with your rice or other chosen side.
I served mine up with my 'basmati oh so nice rice' with extra minced cilantro and minced scallions added at the last moment and stirred into rice just before serving. But this would also go very well over pasta or Chinese noodles. Enjoy!