Cantonese / Chinese American Recipe
Chow Har Kew
Chow har kew is a shrimp and vegetable dish in a light Cantonese-style sauce, often appearing under older Cantonese American menu names.
Recipe at a glance
| Purpose | Additional Chinese restaurant menu recipe family |
| Cuisine or format | Cantonese / Chinese American |
| Consolidation rule | Closely related menu names are treated as one recipe family when the sauce, technique, or format is the same. |
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp
- 2 cups bok choy, snow peas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, or carrots
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or clear stock seasoning
- 1/2 cup stock
- White pepper
- Cornstarch slurry
- Neutral oil
Method
- Season shrimp lightly with salt, white pepper, and cornstarch.
- Stir-fry shrimp briefly and remove.
- Cook ginger, garlic, and vegetables.
- Add stock, soy sauce, and oyster sauce if using.
- Return shrimp.
- Thicken lightly.
- Serve with rice.
Variations and substitutions
- Adjust protein, vegetables, and heat level only when the core technique and sauce remain recognizable.
- For allergies or religious dietary needs, check sauces, broth, wrappers, cooking wine, nuts, sesame, shellfish, and shared wok or fryer use.
- For restaurant-style versions, texture matters as much as flavor: fried items should stay crisp, noodles should not become mushy, and sauces should coat rather than flood the dish.