Leek Soup with Crispy Shrimp

Ingredients

Soup

Fried Shrimp

12 large shelled, deveined shrimp
2 tablespoons Extravagonzo Red Chili Culinary Oil
1 cup arrowroot starch (arrowroot starch makes a very light coating, just enough to add a hint of crispiness.)
1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Soup

Add Extravagonzo Red Chili Culinary Oil to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan and set over medium heat. When Extravagonzo Red Chili Culinary Oil is hot, add leek and saute for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in broth and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer gently until cauliflower is tender, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add mizuna and chives to the bowl of a blender. (If your blender is small, work in two batches in order to not overfill your blender with hot liquid.) Add cauliflower and broth (discard bay leaf) to blender and starting on low speed, holding the cover with a towel, puree the soup. Gently lift the cover to allow some of the steam to escape, then replace the cover and again hold down with a towel. Slowly increase blender speed until soup is very smooth. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with hot, fried shrimp.

Fried Shrimp

Set a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add Extravagonzo Red Chili Culinary Oil until hot and shimmering.
While Extravagonzo Red Chili Culinary Oil heats, combine arrowroot starch and salt in a large plastic bag. Add shrimp to bag, seal, and toss around a bit to coat the shrimp.
Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
Fry a few shrimp at a time until lightly golden brown on both sides, a total of 4-5 minutes, transferring fried shrimp to the paper towel-lined baking sheet as you go.