Fried Pipa Shrimp
Korean-style fried shrimp coated in breadcrumbs and shaped like a pipa (Chinese lute). Crisp outside and tender inside, served with a spicy ssamjang dipping sauce.
Ingredients
fresh large prawns (heads removed, body shells peeled, tails kept, sliced open along the back to remove the vein, washed clean)
4 (about 250g)
shrimp meat (chopped into fine paste together with pork fat)
75g
pork fat (skin removed, cut into fine pieces, chopped into fine paste together with shrimp meat)
25g
fine white bread (crusts removed, cut into slices about 3mm thick, cut into shrimp shapes)
200g
ham (cut into thin strips)
15g
egg whites (for mixing the egg white batter and stirring the shrimp paste)
50g
egg sheet (cut into thin strips)
25g
scallion leaf (cut into thin strips)
1
rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms (cut into thin strips)
2
fine dry starch (for the egg white batter)
15g
cooking wine (for seasoning and marinating)
15g
fine salt (for seasoning)
3g
MSG (for seasoning)
1g
soybean oil (for frying)
750g (60g actually used)
ginger (for marinating)
2 slices
white pepper powder (for seasoning and marinating)
1g
spicy soybean paste (for dipping)
25g
scallion segments (for marinating)
5g
scallion-ginger water (for stirring the shrimp paste)
10g
Instructions
1
Preparing the prawns
Remove the heads from the 4 prawns, peel off the body shells, keep the tails intact, cut open along the back with scissors, remove the vein, and wash clean.
2
Making the shrimp paste
Skin the pork fat, cut it into fine pieces, place it together with the shrimp meat on the cutting board, and chop into a fine paste using two knives in a double-blade motion.
3
Preparing the garnishes
Remove the crusts from the fine white bread and cut it into slices about 3mm thick. Cut the ham, egg sheet, cleaned scallion leaves, and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms into 4 strips each, the same length as the headless prawn bodies, and set aside.
4
Marinating the shrimp meat
Butterfly the shrimp meat along the back with a knife, cutting deep enough to reach the belly but without cutting all the way through, then spread it open and lightly score a cross pattern on the cut surface. Place in a bowl, add 10g cooking wine, 1.5g fine salt, 0.5g MSG, scallion segments, ginger slices, and white pepper powder, and marinate to absorb the flavors.
5
Mixing the shrimp paste batter
Put 30g of egg whites in a bowl and lightly beat with chopsticks, then add the fine dry starch to make a thin egg white batter. Place the shrimp paste in another bowl, add 20g egg whites, scallion-ginger water, 5g cooking wine, 1g fine salt, and 0.5g MSG, and stir vigorously with chopsticks until it becomes elastic and cohesive.
6
Shaping the dish
Cut the bread into shrimp shapes, then spread the mixed shrimp paste evenly over the 4 slices of bread. Coat the marinated shrimp meat on both sides in the egg white batter (leaving the tails uncoated), then press it onto the shrimp paste. Arrange the ham strips, egg sheet strips, shiitake strips, and scallion strips on top of the shrimp meat to resemble the strings of a pipa lute.
7
Deep-frying
Heat the wok over the flame, add the soybean oil, and when the oil reaches about 50% hot, add the pipa shrimp pieces one at a time and fry until pale yellow. Remove, drain off the oil, place on the cutting board, cut each piece into three slices along the cuts made earlier, realign the slices neatly, and arrange on a serving plate.
8
Serving
Serve immediately, accompanied by a small dish of spicy soybean paste for dipping.
