C – Searching for Cambodian recipes can be disappointing.
There aren’t very many out there. I wanted to make shrimp patties, but no one in my family knew how to make them. Or, they just didn’t want to tell me. When I found a recipe online, I thought my quest was over. But, I tried the recipe and really didn’t like it at all. I was so disappointed.
It was too watery and didn’t cook well. It’s flavor was bland and didn’t taste as Cambodian as I had hoped. I had to do a redo with my own flavors added.
My favorite shrimp patty recipe is made by one of my mom’s friends. She really knows how to make these patties awesome. But I think she is keeping her recipe a secret. Whenever I ask for the recipe, she seems to be too busy to give it to me and ends up just making us a batch.
Her secret is kept safe for now. She makes my ideal patties. Nice patties, full of shrimp and full of great flavor. She has garlic, lemon grass and some chili’s in it. Mashed into a paste, formed into patties and fried until golden brown.
I had to deconstruct her recipe. I didn’t quite do it this time. There were a few things I was missing. I guess I will have to do another redo when the Be Mindful. Be Human. pantry is fully stocked. I really liked this recipe, even though it wasn’t like her’s at all. It’s simple. There aren’t too many things that you are missing in a non-Asian pantry. Fish sauce, lemongrass and jicama are probably the hardest things to find. Whole Foods has all of these items.
| Cambodian Shrimp Patties |
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp lemongrass, minced
- 2 green onions, green part only, chopped finely
- ½ cup jicama, minced, juice removed
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ cup white flour
- 1 egg white
- Canola oil for frying
- Hot sauce for dipping
- Sweet fish sauce for dipping
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup boiling water
- 1 garlic clove, minced finely
- ¼ cup peanuts, crushed
- In a food processor, place shrimp and chop until finely minced.
- Remove shrimp and add to a medium sized bowl.
- Add garlic, lemongrass, green onions and jicama into bowl and mix well.
- Add paprika, fish sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Add flour and egg whites. Mix well.
- Place ½ inch of canola oil in a saute pan. Heat on medium until hot.
- Place one large spoonful of shrimp mixture in the pan. Spread immediately to ½ inch thick.
- Do the same for each patty. Do not crowd the pan.
- Cook patties until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip over and cook other side until golden brown. Make sure patties are cooked completely through. If patties are too thick they will be raw in the middle.
- Remove from pan and place on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
- Cut each patty into long ½-inch stripes for easy eating.
- Serve with rice, fresh vegetables and dipping sauces.
- Enjoy!
- Combine all ingredients except peanuts. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Top with peanuts right before serving.
- Enjoy!
This recipe has a great shrimp taste. I love the lemongrass, garlic and green onion flavors. The jicama makes the patties light and not too dense. The flour and the egg whites allows everything to stay together. I loved to see these patties expand because of the egg whites and flour. They made the patties into nice pillows of shrimp.
These were enjoyable. I really loved them with rice and fresh vegetables. Hope you enjoy them, too.
You should try using tapioca starch. It’ll give it the correct chewy texture.