Crispy Outside… Tender and Firm Inside! Bouncy Shrimp Texture with the Ultimate Spicy, Sour, and Savory Sauce
Royal Masterpiece
RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka
Chinese Restaurant Royal Ryuho
Shrimp with Sweet and Spicy Sauce
The Chinese Restaurant Royal Ryuho at the RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection, is located on the 15th floor of the West Wing, where guests can enjoy scenic views overlooking the Dojima River and Osaka’s modern skyline. This restaurant continues to be cherished by many repeat customers. Its signature dish is Shrimp with Sweet and Spicy Sauce, expertly prepared by Head Chef Takanori Shirakawa, who took over the position last year. Let’s take a look at this exquisite dish combining tradition and innovation.
The moment the dish arrives at your table, the aroma of garlic and ginger seasonings tickle your nostrils and stimulate your appetite. And when you bite into that crispy, piping hot fried batter coating, inside is a wonderfully springy shrimp. First, you’re amazed by that delectable crisp-bouncy texture…! Then the sweetness and spiciness spread over your palate, and finally a refreshing sourness sweeps through your mouth like a gentle breeze.
Even while fully coated in spicy, sour, and savory sauce, the shrimp’s freshly-fried batter stays light and crisp. We asked Head Chef Shirakawa about the secret behind this.
This dish is a unique masterpiece directly passed down from Jing Sanyuan, a special culinary advisor at Beijing Cuisine Tendan Wanfu, the predecessor of Royal Ryuho. Head Chef Shirakawa honed his skills under Jing from a young age, and this is a precious dish he was taught as a favored protégé.
“The master taught me the four fundamental principles of cooking. First, it must be delicious. Second, it must be beautiful. Third, it must be simple. And fourth, it must be prepared quickly. The idea is: cook as simply and quickly as possible, make the colors and presentation beautiful, and combine the strengths of principles one through four so customers can enjoy a delicious dish. ‘Everything for the purpose of one delicious dish’—that’s the secret, I believe.”
Shrimp with Sweet and Spicy Sauce is prepared simply with simple ingredients: fresh shrimp, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine. Although of course time-consuming steps like soaking potato starch in water from the day before are properly attended to where necessary.
“For the batter, we discard the clear water on top of the soaked potato starch and simply mix in whole eggs. Once the eggs blend smoothly into the moist mixture, we quickly dip the seasoned shrimp and fry rapidly at medium to high temperature. This method creates a crispy, thin coating.”
Sauce preparation begins while frying the shrimp. Scallion oil is heated to high temperature in a wok. Then the spices—grated garlic, chopped ginger, and chopped chili peppers—are added, and stir-fried vigorously until slightly charred. Once the spices are fragrant and cooked through, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar are added and everything is quickly blended together. This is a very quick technique that takes barely a minute.
“As soon as the sauce is ready, we immediately add the freshly fried shrimp and finish with just two tosses of the wok. ‘Two tosses only’ is a technique I learned directly from my master.”
Ingredients are never handled more than necessary. Once the cooking process begins, there’s no hesitation or delay, and this exceptional dish is completed in just a few minutes total. The bouncy texture of the shrimp and the refreshing combination of savory, spicy, and sour flavors stimulate the appetite. The dish pairs well with rice and is perfect with beer or Shaoxing wine. Despite its appearance, it settles lightly in the stomach, with no heavy or overly rich feeling. This is truly the sort of masterpiece you want to enjoy at a hotel, a virtuoso performance of professional technique.
Shrimp with Sweet and Spicy Sauce ¥5,439 (a la carte menu)
RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka,
Vignette Collection
Chinese Restaurant Royal Ryuho
Phone: +81(0)6-6445-1387 (direct)
West Wing, 15th Floor, 5-3-68 Nakanoshima,Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan
*All prices include tax.
*All pictures shown are for illustration purposes only.
*Menu items are subject to change depending on the season and availability of ingredients.
*Opening Hours may be subject to change without notice. Please check the Opening Hours before visiting.
