This is a beginner-friendly, basic shrimp cakes recipe which is very easy to make. Use a blender to save time – blitz, season, shape, and fry! That’s it!
My mom often makes shrimp cakes with kaffir lime leaves and water chestnuts to enhance the aroma and texture. Everyone loves it.
So I asked Mom about her signature shrimp cake recipe, she said: ‘Thaw the shrimps, add some salt and cornstarch, wrap them in a cloth and put them into the fridge and chill for a while. Chop until sticky, add kaffir lime leaves, water chestnuts, salt, sugar and pepper, then fry!’
I asked how many shrimps to use (I really had no idea), and she said 200 grams. How much salt to use? She said ‘a little bit, by feeling‘, but my feeling is not the same as her feeling, and then she said, ‘then let it be ⅓ teaspoon!’ I think a cooking master like her really doesn’t know the exact measure, especially the seasoning.
Later, I took out the digital scale and weighed the shrimps. Erh? ! 200 g is not that much! There are only about 13 shrimps, is it really enough? Did she think I eat alone? Or did she forget her son-in-law?
So, I decided to go online and checked out the others shrimp cake recipes.
Shrimp Cakes Video Recipe from 肥丁手工坊
Just Close Your Eyes and Keep Shaping
This is the first time I made shrimp cakes. Don’t feel sorry if you use a machine, that’s what a gadget meant to be! Just bear in mind that, after blending, the shrimp paste turned very sticky, and after adding egg white, it became wet, soft, not like the video shown as above.
I struggled how to shape it into a disc as it was quite soft. But I just did it. I pound it and then coated it with flour, no bread crumbs. And they are finally successfully fried!
The final products were not soft, I did cut them with a knife. It had a springy texture, but not as much as the restaurant. In the above video, the creator said that if you beat it by hand, it will be softer, but if you blend it with a machine, it will be firmer. And for my output, it was quite firm!
Ingredients
Makes 6 pcs
- 440 g frozen raw shrimps (weighed at heads-off, shell on), thawed
- 10 g fresh coriander, chopped
- 1 egg white
- flour
- oil
For the Seasoning
- ⅓ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika powder
- white pepper
For rubbing the shrimps
- cornstarch (or other starch)
- salt
How to Make Basic Shrimp Cakes with Blender
- Peel the thawed shrimps and pat really dry. You can wrap them in a kitchen paper and let the excess water to be absorbed throughly. Better to do it a night before.
- Then add some salt and cornstarch to rub them. Salt is to enhance flavour but don’t let it sits for too long as the salt withdraws water from the shrimps, 5 minutes should be enough. And the starch can stablize the protein and hold its firmness.
- Put the shrimp into a blender and blitz until it becomes sticky, then transfer to a bowl. Add egg white, coriander and all seasonings and mix well.
- Then, take a plate and put some flour on it. Divide the shrimp paste into 6 parts with wet hands and make into a disc shape. Place them on the flour so that they won’t stick.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the shrimp cakes until golden on both sides. Serve with sweet and sour chilli sauce and crunchy lettuce.
