Crispy Shrimp Bites

Love these crispy little bites of seasoned shrimp! They are crispy on the outside but tender and full of flavor on the inside. If you haven’t tried Szechuan pepper before, give it a try. It has a little peppery bite, but it is also almost floral and makes your mouth tingle.  You can customize this any way you want such as using hot pepper instead of bell pepper for some added heat. I’m not using a dipping sauce with these, but some mayo mixed with Thai sweet chili sauce might be nice.

Ingredients (makes about 18 bites):

1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon sesame oil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon Szechuan pepper, crushed

1 egg white, beaten until foamy

2 green onions, finely chopped

¼ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons rice flour

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Cooking spray

2 Tablespoons canola oil

Directions: Chop half of the shrimp into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Place the other half of the raw shrimp in the food processor and pulse until well blended. Add the pulsed shrimp to the chopped shrimp. Stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, Szechuan pepper, egg white, green onions and red bell pepper.

Stir the rice flour and cornstarch into the shrimp mixture and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and add 1 Tablespoon of canola oil. Place the heat on medium-low-ish. My heat is at 3.5 out of 10.

With dampened hands, take a golf ball size of the shrimp mixture and pat it into a small patty.  Place about 9 bites in the skillet and cook about 4-5 minutes per side. Be very gentle when turning them so they don’t break apart. Repeat with remaining Tablespoon of canola oil and shrimp mixture.