Thai Fried Shrimp Cakes Recipe

No one I’ve ever met has been able to resist the pleasures of this Thai crispy fried shrimp cake appetizer.

It’s not at all difficult, requires no very hard to find ingredients and it makes a great change from the everyday. Try it for yourself!

Thai Fried Shrimp Cakes

• 300 grams of shrimp, peeled and deveined, a little over a half pound. Any size of shrimp will do here, but since you’ll chop it up and since larger shrimp tend to cost more, you might as well buy the cheaper little guys for this one.
• 2 ounces (50 grams) of regular (not lean) ground pork
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Tbls of chopped cilantro root (the white root part of the cilantro sprig – this is a common ingredient in Thai cooking. If you can’t find cilantro with the root attached, just substitute chopped cilantro stems instead)
• 2 tsps of freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 Tbls of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp of white sugar
• 2 tsp of fish sauce
• ½ tsp of salt
• 2 cups of Panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• A little more flour for dredging
• Oil for deep frying

1. Smash the garlic, the black pepper and the cilantro root into a paste in a mortar and pestle
2. Place all the shrimp, the pork, the smashed pepper/garlic/cilantro, the salt, sugar, fish sauce and the 2 Tbls of flour in a blender or food processor and process until the mixture is smooth.
3. Transfer to a bowl and mix/knead it with your hands until it feels like almost dough like.
4. Place some flour for dredging on one plate, beat one egg in a bowl and place the 2 cups of bread crumbs on another plate.
5. You can make these into any size/shape, you like, but they are commonly shaped like little pancakes, about 3 inches in diameter and a ½ inch in height
6. Form the disk shape, dredge it in the flour, shake off any excess flour and then dip it in the beaten egg. Turn the shrimp cake well in the egg, making sure that the egg adheres completely to all exposed surfaces. Let any excess egg drain off and transfer the shrimp cake to the plate of bread crumbs. Turn the shrimp cake in the breadcrumbs until it is well coated. Repeat with remaining shrimp mixture.
7. Heat vegetable oil to 360 or so and fry until cooked through and golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes

Serve with a sweet dipping sauce called, ‘nam jim buoy” a yellow and very sweet dipping sauce that is available in Asian grocery stores.