One of the delicious dishes in Hanoi is West Lake shrimp cake with a golden color, which melts in your mouth with a crispy texture along with sweet shrimp served with fresh vegetables and a delicious sweet and sour dipping sauce that is hard to resist. Let’s cook this dish right away with Điện máy Xanh fry to treat the family on the weekend!
1. West Lake Shrimp Cake
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
45 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for West Lake Shrimp Cake Serves 4 people
Shrimp 500 gr Flour 200 gr Tapioca flour 100 gr Sweet potato 300 gr (2 tubers) Kohlrabi 100 gr (1 tuber) Carrot 100 gr (1 tuber) Eggs 2 pieces Lettuce 200 gr Garlic 3 cloves Chili 2 pieces Vinegar 4 tablespoons Fish sauce 2 tablespoons Cooking oil 4 tablespoons Common spices A little (Salt/ pepper/ sugar/ seasoning granules/ monosodium glutamate)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh shrimp
- Choose shrimp with a transparent shell, healthy shrimp that can still jump.
- Shrimp should be intact, with the head and body sticking together, and the legs not separated, the tail should be folded.
- Avoid buying shrimp that are mushy or have an unusual smell.
How to choose good sweet potatoes
- Choose those with a smooth surface, without cracks or chips. When holding the sweet potato, it should feel heavy, firm, and not bruised.
- Avoid buying overly large sweet potatoes as they tend to be fibrous; medium-sized sweet potatoes are the best. Be cautious if you see sweet potatoes with black spots or blemishes, as these are signs that the sweet potatoes have gone bad.
- You should choose Japanese sweet potatoes to make shrimp cakes for a crispier and tastier result.
How to choose good carrots
- It is advisable to choose carrots that are straight, with smooth skin, bright carrot color, and feel firm, hard, and heavy in your hand, as these are the tastiest and richest in vitamins.
- Opt for those with a small core, as the smaller the core, the sweeter the carrot.
- You should avoid choosing carrots with leaves or stems at the base, or those that are thick at the shoulder, as these are often carrots with large cores that are not sweet and have fewer nutrients.
- Do not choose carrots that are misshapen, dark in color, bruised, or have wilted leaves.
How to choose good kohlrabi
- Choose those with a diameter of 7 to 9 cm, as these are the best ones.
- Choose those that feel heavy and firm when held, not soft.
- You should choose kohlrabi with a bright light green color, intact, without worms or bruises, and with no foul or chemical smell.
- Avoid buying pre-peeled kohlrabi, as most are soaked in water mixed with chemicals to maintain freshness and appearance.
- Do not choose kohlrabi that are too large, bruised, or damaged.
- Do not choose kohlrabi without stems and leaves.
How to make West Lake shrimp cakes
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Prepare the shrimp
To reduce the fishy smell of the shrimp, soak the shrimp in diluted salt water for about 10 minutes, then cut off the head, peel off the shell while leaving the tail shell, remove the shrimp vein, and rinse with water multiple times, then drain.
Quick way to remove the shrimp vein- Count backward from the shrimp tail to the second groove between the two segments of the shrimp shell, pierce a toothpick through this position and gently pull the black vein out.
- You don’t need to use a knife to cut the back of the shrimp; you can also use a toothpick to dig out the head of the shrimp body and you will see the black vein. Gently pull this black vein out and the shrimp is clean.
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Prepare the other ingredients
Peel the sweet potatoes, slice them, and then cut them into thin strips. Soak the sweet potatoes in a bowl of diluted salt water for about 10 minutes. Then rinse them clean with water and drain in a colander.
Carrots, peel, carve flower shapes, and slice thinly. Kohlrabi, peel, slice, then cut into square or rectangular pieces that are easy to eat.
Put the carrots and kohlrabi in a bowl and soak them with 2 tablespoons of vinegar for about 15 minutes, then drain. Peel the garlic and mince it. Wash the chili and chop it finely.
Lettuce, remove the roots, any damaged leaves, wash thoroughly, soak in diluted salt water for about 15 minutes, then rinse with clean water and drain.
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Mix the batter
Add 200g of flour and 100g of tapioca starch into a bowl, then gradually add 150ml of water while mixing until the batter is well combined.
Next, crack 2 eggs into the bowl of batter, mix well, and let the batter rest for 30 minutes.
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Marinate the shrimp
Marinate the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of seasoning, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, mix well and let it marinate for about 15 minutes.
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Roll the dough and fry the cakes
Add the shrimp and shredded sweet potato to the flour mixture and mix well.
Place a pan on the stove over high heat, add 4 tablespoons of cooking oil, wait for the oil to heat up, then scoop 1 ladle of the flour mixture, sweet potato, and shrimp into the pan.
Adjust so that the shrimp is in the center, then fry for about 4 – 5 minutes until both sides are golden and crispy. Then remove the cakes and place them on paper towels to drain the oil.
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Prepare the dipping sauce
In a bowl, add 50ml of filtered water, then add 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, stirring well to dissolve the seasonings, then add 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of minced chili and mix well.
Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking, then scoop the dipping sauce into a bowl, adding carrots and kohlrabi, and you have a bowl of sweet and sour dipping sauce.
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Final product
You arrange the shrimp cakes with lettuce on a plate and enjoy them with the sweet and sour dipping sauce.
The shrimp cakes are golden, fragrant with a crispy sweet potato crust, sweet shrimp paired with fresh lettuce, dipped in an irresistible sweet and sour sauce.
2. Fried West Lake Shrimp Cakes (Recipe shared from Tiktok Let’s Cook with TasteVN)
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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Medium
Ingredients for Fried West Lake Shrimp Cakes (Recipe shared from Tiktok Let’s Cook with TasteVN) Serves 1 – 2 people
Shrimp 200 gr Battering flour 300 gr Sweet potato 1 tuber Salt/pepper A little
Utensils
Ingredients
How to make West Lake Shrimp Cakes (Recipe shared from Tiktok Cooking with TasteVN)
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Prepare the ingredients
After purchasing, wash the sweet potato, peel it, and use a peeler to cut it into thin strands.
Wash the shrimp, remove the head and devein. Then, drain and place the shrimp in a bowl, marinate with a little salt and pepper for about 5 – 10 minutes.
Add 300g of crispy batter into a bowl, mix with 200ml of water and stir until the batter dissolves completely. Once the batter is fully dissolved, add it to the sweet potato strands and mix well so that the sweet potato is evenly coated with the batter.
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Cooking
First, you put a pan on the stove, pour in oil, and turn on a low flame to wait for the oil to heat up. In the meantime, prepare the batter; take a spatula to scoop the mixed potato batter on top, then place shrimp on top, and put the spatula into the hot oil, gently pushing the batter outwards to separate it from the spatula.
Continue doing the same until all the batter and shrimp are used. The cakes should be deep-fried, and you should turn them evenly on both sides to achieve crispiness and even cooking.
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Final Product
The cakes after frying are golden, crispy, and visually appealing, with crispy potato and sweet shrimp. You can serve them with lettuce and dipping sauce to reduce the greasiness.
Tips for successful execution
- The more whipped the eggs are, the crispier and fluffier your shrimp cakes will be. Strain the mixture through a sieve to ensure the flour is fine and free of lumps.
- When frying the cakes, you can add 1 or 2 shrimp as desired, but make sure the cakes will be large enough to encompass the shrimp.
- If you want the shrimp cakes to be crispy from the inside out, you should make the cakes small with a moderate amount of potato. Fry at a medium temperature of about 170 – 190 degrees Celsius.
- If you want the shrimp cakes to be crispy on the outside but soft on the inside, fry at a high temperature so that the outside of the cakes turns golden and crispy faster, about 190 – 200 degrees Celsius.
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West Lake shrimp cakes will definitely be a favorite dish for your whole family. Wish you success with TasteVN’s recipe!
*Recipe and reference images from the YouTube channel: Hong Van
*Feel free to check out more delicious recipes from Tiktok Cooking with TasteVN
