Honey Walnut Shrimp

Rarely does one dish hint at so much and yet remains so mysterious. Such is the case for honey walnut shrimp. Let’s examine some clues: The knife work, in which whole shrimp are half-butterflied, and the shrimp batter, which is cornstarch-based, are rooted firmly in Chinese cuisine. Walnuts and seafood, two luxury ingredients in Chinese cookery, paired together point to special-occasion dining. And broccoli — so quotidian here — remains exotic in China and would have been even more so 40 to 50 years ago. Then there’s the mayonnaise and condensed milk in the sauce, both French in origin and wildly popular in American cooking at the time but two absolutely surprising ingredients to use in Chinese cooking. 

So where does that leave us? Much of the internet (but not all!) seems to believe that honey walnut shrimp originated in Hong Kong in the ’70s or ’80s. I can find zero evidence of this, but I can certainly imagine some Hong Kong hotel chef getting inspired one day — perhaps while enjoying condensed milk toast and reading up on all the crazy things Americans were doing with mayonnaise — and deciding to introduce an auspicious new shrimp dish to his wedding banquet prix fixe (nuts symbolize fertility). 

Also plausible: The Hong Kong chef had emigrated to San Francisco, and was looking for ways to adapt his cooking when he came up with the recipe, because the one thing everyone seems to agree on is that honey walnut shrimp is a Chinese-American classic. Whichever story is true, to me this dish remains one of the greatest examples of Asian chefs playing with Western ingredients and, in doing so, originating modern fusion cooking. 

I also think this makes honey walnut shrimp stand out in the pantheon of Chinese-American classics, which tend to tell stories about scrappiness and necessity and — especially these days — speed and value. No, honey walnut shrimp is anachronistic, harkening to that golden period of Chinese-American cooking that was about novelty, entertainment, and opulence. When I went to Hop Kee, the old-school Cantonese American restaurant in New York City Anthony Bourdain featured on Parts Unknown, to taste their honey walnut shrimp for research, I descended the old, steep, stairs to an empty dining room, six waiters drinking tea, and honey walnut shrimp that cost $32 a plate.

This homemade version of honey walnut shrimp follows in the footsteps of those unnamed chefs by borrowing Western trends. It being 2022, the trends have changed: Mayonnaise is out, Greek yogurt is in. I’ve also swapped regular sweetened condensed milk for coconut condensed milk, in a bit of an homage to coconut shrimp, that other great fusion classic. Together, they bring enough richness, aroma, and tang that you don’t miss the mayonnaise.

Two other simple modifications bring this dish from the restaurant to the home kitchen. The walnuts are roasted rather than deep-fried and the batter is kept light, which helps the shrimp fry up quickly and preserve their sweet juiciness. The sauce and walnuts can be made ahead, but don’t toss the sauce with the fried shrimp until your guests are sitting down — this dish needs to be enjoyed immediately!