Asian Style Shrimp Croquettes

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My husband is leaving for a business trip tomorrow morning and won’t be back before late evening on Friday. Each time he leaves like that, I try to organize myself so our boys don’t miss him too much. I spoil them by allowing things usually forbidden in weekdays. I let them go to bed an hour later and we eat TV tray style. For my sons, this is paradise! Finger foods eaten in front of the TV and sleeping in mom and dad’s bed later than usual… They love it!

The boys understood immediately their dad was leaving for a trip when they saw me preparing the Chinese Style Shrimp Croquettes this morning. They are part of our “When Dad Leaves, Mice Can Dance” routine. I doubled the recipe so they can bring some to school for today’s lunch and then froze the balance to re-reheat tomorrow evening.

This is a great thing with these croquettes. You can make them ahead and freeze them. Then they take less than 20 minutes to re-heat by popping them in the oven, still frozen hard, for 15 to 20 minutes depending on their size. They are as good as freshly made. It really comes handy to have a batch in the freezer for easy entertaining or when friends drop by un-announced or even to have for supper with a simple salad on those very time sensitive evenings.

Keeping some in the freezer, that's if you can! Because these babies are so delicious, they barely have time to cool enough before they disappear after they’re fried. I strongly recommend you serve them with the sweet-savory sauce. The combination is so delicious. I also served them in the past with a guacamole dip more heavy on the lime juice and it was a hit.

These croquettes are coated with « panko », a Japanese breadcrumb. It gives them a lasting crunch and doesn’t become mushy like regular breadcrumbs do if they sit a bit after they are deep-fried. If you can’t find panko near you, no sweat, it’s easy to make something very similar using commercial white bread.

Mock Panko

Remove crust from white bread. Cut the crumbs in cubes and process them in the food processor (metal blades). They’ll stay a bit coarse. It’s ok.

Lay them on a cookie sheet and allow to dry overnight. After they dried, put them back in the food processor and process just enough to have crumbs coarser than regular bread crumbs. Store in a tightly closed jar or freezer bag in the freezer and use like regular breadcrumbs.

Asian Style Shrimp Croquettes

1 1/2 lb large shrimp (30), peeled and deveined
8-oz can water chestnuts (1 cup), rinsed and finely chopped
½ cup dried, rehydrated chinese mushrooms, finely chopped
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine or Scotch or white wine
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallion greens
1.5 teaspoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups panko
Vegetable oil for frying

Pulse shrimp in a food processor until finely chopped.

In a bowl, mix together water chestnuts, egg white, chineese mushrooms, rice wine, ginger, scallion, salt, and cornstarch. Beat in shrimp mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon and throw it against side of bowl until combined well and compacted.

Wet your hands with cold water and form teaspoons of shrimp mixture into balls, arranging in 1 layer on a wax-paper–lined tray. Coat balls, 1 at a time, in panko, then arrange in 1 layer on another wax-paper–lined tray.
Preheat oven to 350°F (180ºC).

Fry balls in batches, turning, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until golden and just cooked through (check a croquette, if the inside is still gray it still isn’t cooked through. It should be slightly pink and white).
Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. When all shrimp balls are fried, reheat on a rack set in a shallow baking pan in middle of oven until just hot, about 2 to 3 minutes.

If you want, you can freeze the croquettes on a tray. When frozen hard, package them in a bag and keep frozen until needed. Reheat (do not thaw) in a 350º F (180ºC) oven for about 20 minutes depending on the croquettes size.

Serve piping hot with the sauce.

Apricot Sauce

1 3/4 cups apricot jam
2 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
3 tablespoons finely chopped scallion greens
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste
Dash of Tabasco, or to taste

Melt jam in a small saucepan. Stir in remaining ingredients with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm.

This is an interpretation of a recipe by Chinese cooking author, Nina Simonds.