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Naturally sweet and juicy shrimp balls covered by tiny cubes of bread and then fried to crispy perfection. These dim sum crispy fried shrimp balls are so easy to put together and enjoyed by kids and adults. It is also an excellent way to use up stale bread. You can choose to air fry or deep fry the shrimp balls.
What are dim sum style crispy fried shrimp balls ?
This popular dim sum dish is made with a mixture of shrimp with seasonings and aromatics, shaped into balls, and then coat with cubes of bread, and then fried until crispy. There is also a version that is coated with strips of spring roll sheets. You can’t go wrong with either one. The ones that I’ve tried at our local dim sum places are coated with cubes of bread
What kind of bread to use
White sandwich bread would be the best choice. But as you can see in my step-by-step photos, I use my homemade rainbow bread slices 🙂 and also my sourdough black olive and bacon country loaf bread. As long as the bread is not the sweet type, it should work. Of course if you use white bread, the color will be nicely golden brown.
How to make crispy fried shrimp balls
1. You will need approximately 340-350 grams of unpeeled shrimp. Peel and deveined the shrimp. Put it in a food processor and pulse a few times to turn it into a paste consistency. Mix with the rest of the ingredients. Cover and let it marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight
2. White sandwich bread is usually used to coat the shrimp balls. You are welcome to use any bread you want to use up. When ready to assemble, trim the crust off the bread. Cut into about 1/2-inch cubes
3. Scoop about 2 tablespoons (or more if you want a larger size) of the shrimp mixture and shape it into a ball with your lightly wet hands to prevent sticking
4. Roll this on the bread cubes to make sure the surface is all covered by bread cubes. Use your palm to squeeze a bit to make sure the bread cubes are attached to the sticky shrimp mixture nicely so they won’t fall off during cooking.
5. If you want to air fry, brush the bread cubes with some oil and arrange them inside the air-fryer basket and air fry at 350 F (180 C) for 5 minutes and then rotate so they brown more evenly and air fry another 2-3 minutes and check. The shrimp should cook through inside and golden brown on the outside. Just to warn you that the air fryer version won’t be able to give an even golden brown color compared to the deep-fried version
6. For deep-fried version, preheat some oil for frying. The oil needs to cover at least half of the shrimp balls during frying. When you put a skewer into the oil, you will see lots of bubbles around it. The oil is ready. Put the shrimp balls in, 2-3 at a time and move the shrimp balls around so they fry evenly without getting burn spots. Fry about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil to an absorbent paper towel and continue frying the rest
7. Serve warm with your favorite chili sauce if you like
How to reheat
Leftover can be kept in the fridge for a day or two. Simply reheat in a toaster oven at 350 F (180 C) for 10 minutes. You can also reheat in the air fryer at 320 F (160 C) for 5-8 minutes or until heated through.
Did you make this dim sum fried shrimp balls recipe?
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Dim Sum Crispy Fried Shrimp Balls
Ingredients
For shrimp balls:
- 250 gr peeled and deveined shrimp
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ⅛ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 stalk green onion
- ½ tsp chicken powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- Oil for frying
Coat with:
- 180 gr bread slices or more as needed, cut into small cubes
Instructions
Prepare the shrimp balls:
- You will need approximately 340-350 grams of unpeeled shrimp. Peel and deveined the shrimp. Put it in a food processor and pulse a few times to turn it into a paste consistency. Mix with the rest of the ingredients. Cover and let it marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight
Assembling:
- White sandwich bread is usually used to coat the shrimp balls. You are welcome to use any bread you want to use up. When ready to assemble, trim the crust off the bread. Cut into about 1/2-inch cubes
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons (or more if you want a larger size) of the shrimp mixture and shape it into a ball with your lightly wet hands to prevent sticking. Roll this on the bread cubes to make sure the surface is all covered by bread cubes. Use your palm to squeeze a bit to make sure the bread cubes are attached to the sticky shrimp mixture nicely so they won't fall off during cooking.
Air-fried version:
- If you want to air fry, brush the bread cubes with some oil and arrange them inside the air-fryer basket and air fry at 350 F (180 C) for 5 minutes and then rotate so they brown more evenly and air fry another 2-3 minutes and check. The shrimp should cook through inside and golden brown on the outside. Just to warn you that the air fryer version won't be able to give an even golden brown color compared to the deep-fried version
Deep-fried version:
- Preheat some oil for frying. The oil needs to cover at least half of the shrimp balls during frying. When you put a skewer into the oil, you will see lots of bubbles around it. The oil is ready. Put the shrimp balls in, 2-3 at a time and move the shrimp balls around so they fry evenly without getting burn spots. Fry about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil to an absorbent paper towel and continue frying the rest
Serve:
- Serve warm with your favorite chili sauce if you like