This sandwich, which resembles a hybrid between meatballs and meatloaf, should stay together without getting messy.
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 appetizer-size portions |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds raw peeled and deveined shrimp
- 1 tablespoon finely crushed garlic, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems
- 1 teaspoon sambal chili paste, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, or as desired
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs, or more if needed
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Place shrimp, garlic, cilantro, chili paste, brown sugar, salt, fish sauce, turmeric, and cayenne pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture begins to break down. Scrape down the sides. Continue processing until mixture is very smooth but not pureed and moves around the bowl as a mass. Transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; press wrap against the surface of the shrimp paste. Refrigerate until mixture is chilled, 1 to 2 hours.
- Place panko crumbs on a plate. Scoop out equal size portions of shrimp and roll them around on the crumbs to coat. Shape into thin patties. Do this in batches.
- Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, cook cakes in batches. Fry until golden brown and cakes spring back to the touch, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
- If you don’t have a food processor, just pile up the ingredients on a cutting and, using a large knife or cleaver, chop until you get a paste which actually takes less time and effort than you expect.
- Start with 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. You can fry up a small bit to check for seasonings before shaping and cooking all the patties.
- If you can’t find sambal chili paste, you can use an equal amount of freshly minced hot peppers.
- If you’re using a deep fryer to cook the cakes, you can shape them into small balls instead of flat patties.
- Serve these with
- .
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 302 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 21 g |
| Cholesterol | 157 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 20 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 580 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Seriously easy and tasty!
We loved it. I had a 1 lb bag frozen Gulf shrimp, which I dried very thoroughly, lots of paper towels. Using what I had, in the processor went the shrimp, 2 T fine dry bread crumbs, 1 egg white, 2 tsp garlic paste, 1 T cilantro paste, 1/2 t tumeric, 1 t sriracha, 1/2 t cayenne and pinch K salt. I wanted shrimp pieces , so processed just enough so the patties would hold together with visible chunks. Chilled 3 hours and using a tablespoon measure, made rounded measures, 12 in total. I flattened to 1/2″ thick, dredged well in the panko, and fried 2 min first side, 1 1/2 min second side. Panko crumbs make them so deliciously crunchy, and they were moist and juicy inside. The 2 T bread crumbs blended in well and not noticeable, and kept the chunky mixture together. I’ll make again, and will try with scallops, too. Very delicious, thanks Chef John!
Followed the recipe except waited 2 days to make them because hubs worked too late the first night. They were fantastic when fried and even made the Chili sauce. Will make again!!!
Thank you Chef John! Made these tonight!! The flavors were spot on! I’m alway easy on the heat an heavy handed with everything else and these were delicious!! I made them a little thicker and gave them 4 stars because of the texture. Maybe if I made them thinner it would have helped, but some chopped scallions or small diced water chestnuts would have added a much needed crunch. Chef John’s recipes have been a Godsend during the pandemic
I’m willing to go 4 stars, but I wasn’t crazy about the consistency. I made it exactly as the recipe specified. Flavors were very good. In my opinion, “fillers” like breading in the cakes would help mitigate the spongy texture of the shrimp.
This was delicious. Everyone in the house loved it. Made it exactly as written. Also made the sweet spicy chili sauce to dip. Everything was delicious.
Very tasty…made with prawns and substituted tomato paste (with a couple of pinches of red pepper flakes) for chilli paste. Nice appy for sure!
Since we had 5 pounds of salad shrimp I used a pound and a half to make this wonderful dish. I put them in the food processor for a bit just to break them up. After that I pretty much went by the recipe except for me adding a little chipotle sauce to take it up a notch ????
no matter how I cooked them the outside burns and the inside is soggy
Delicious!!! Love this recipe…easy to make and so impressive when guests drop by
I made this recipe with fresh/thawed shrimp. Neither one of us is a big eater but these shrimp paddies were GONE at the end of the meal with all the sides. I made baked sweet potatoes and a mixed green salad. IWSG!!!!
This was really delicious. Mine came out a little crispier on the outside than shown on the video, but we loved them. I was using frozen shrimp, so I gave them a rough chop and put them in the colander for a few minutes, then blotted with a paper towel. They were still very moist inside. Served with the Thai-Style Sweet Chili Sauce and a cucumber salad. One pound of shrimp was more than enough to make a main course of this for two people.