Shrimp Balls Recipe

Ingredients : Makes 10 balls

1 kg

50 g

5 cm

4 cloves

1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon

12 sticks

2 tablespoon

To serve

24 sheets

90 g

20 g

50 g

Shimps

Pork fat, chopped

Fresh ginger, grated

Garlic, finely chopped

Corn flour

Sugar

Salt

Sugar cane

Rice paper wrappers, each about 15 cm round

Soft-leaf lettuce leaves

Bean sprouts, scraggly ends removed

Fresh mint leaves

Unsalted roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Sweet chili sauce

Method :

Peel and de-vein the shrimps, roughly chop the meat. Place the shrimps on paper towel and pat dry. Place the shrimp meat and pork fat in a food processor. Process in short bursts until finely chopped.
Combine the shrimp mixture, ginger, garlic, corn flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
Knead the mixture very well with your fingertips for 2 minutes. This will make the mixture easier to place around the sugar cane and also create a smooth texture.
Using wet hands, roll about 2 tablespoons of mixture into a rough ball shape. Wrap the ball around the middle of a sugar can stick, leaving about 4 cm at the end of the stick. Gently press the mixture onto the stick. Place the stick on a sheet of baking or greaseproof paper and repeat with the remaining shrimp mixture and sugar cane sticks. Refrigerate the sticks while preparing the serving accompaniments.
Using a pastry brush, brush both sides of each rice paper wrapper liberally with water. Allow to stand for 2 minutes or until they become soft and pliable. Stack the wrapper on a plate. Sprinkle over a little extra water and cover the plate with plastic wrap to keep the wrappers moist until needed. Arrange the lettuce leaves, bean sprouts and mint in separate piles on a serving plate.
Lightly brush a grill tray with the oil and heat. Cook the shrimp skewers for about 7 minutes under a moderate heat, turning them regularly until the shrimps meat is cooked and golden brown. Alternatively, the skewers can be cooked on a barbecue.
To serve, each diner takes 1 shrimp skewer, removes the meat form the skewer and slices it into thin slices. They then place the shrimp in a rice paper wrapper, top it with a few bean sprouts and a little mint, wrap the bundle neatly in a lettuce leaf. Serve with chili sauce.