Sautéed Shrimp with Land & Sea Vegetables (serves 2)

I have never eaten sea asparagus tips or heard about it before.  I saw it for sale at Mana Foods grocery in Pa'ia (Maui) and decided to give it a try.  It is salty with a slight crunchy texture.  Sea asparagus first needs to be blanched for about 10 seconds in boiling water then placed in a ice cold bath to stop the cooking process.  It then needs to be soaked for at least an hour.  I soaked mine all day while I was hiking in the bamboo forest.  Since the sea asparagus is salty you don't need additional salt. 

Sautéed Shrimp with Land & Sea Vegetables (serves 2)

Ingredients:


10 oz shrimp, shelled, deveined and butterflied
4 oz hamakua mushrooms
1 C ogo*
1 C Kula watercress, cut into 2-inch lengths
1/2 C blanched sea asparagus*
1 garlic clove, minced
1 t grated ginger
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 t oyster sauce
1/2 t sugar
A wedge of lime

Method:

1) Heat butter and oil in a medium size pan over medium high heat.
2) Stir in ginger and garlic, sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
3) Add shrimp, cook for 4-5 minutes.
4) Add ogo, mushrooms and watercress, cook for 2-3 minutes.
5) Stir in oyster sauce and sugar, cook for 1 minute.
6) Turn off heat and add sea asparagus, stir until it is well mixed.
7) Right before serving add a little squeeze of lime juice on top.

ogo

sea asparagus tips

*To learn more about sea asparagus or ogo you may visit:
http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/add/soq/companies/marineagrifuture/view
and http://www.olakaihawaii.com/