Growing up, Saturday nights were often “take out food dinners”. We were regular customers of a little Vietnamese food shack in the neighborhoods on those nights. The little stand only offered a few choices, one of which was the nems- Vietnamese spring rolls. The other one was shrimp beignets. I have yet to have the exact same type of shrimp beignets somewhere else, therefore I set out to replicate them. After a long search, the only dish that is from Vietnam and consisted of a simple batter with shrimp in the middle that I found is “Bahn Tom Chien”. However, that recipe also called for sweet potatoes and more importantly the final product looked nothing like the perfectly shaped beignets of my childhood. Could it be that I had been deceived all these years? Were these beignets not authentic? That was quite the disappointment. During one last attempt at a search for the perfect shrimp beignets, in my biased mind, I came across a recipe whose final product looked exactly like them. Finally! The question of authenticity remains, but there is no question when it comes to the taste, they are delicious! One other issue emerged: I have no idea how to get the perfect round shape of the beignets. I did learn that it is best not to put too much batter around the shrimp, as the batter rises during cooking. Follow the steps below for some delicious, unperfectly shaped, shrimp beignets.
beignets de crevette Recipe
Print recipe| Serves | 4 |
| Prep time | 1 hour, 30 minutes |
| Cook time | 20 hours |
| Total time | 21 hours, 30 minutes |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Snack |
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3lb raw shrimps
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- a pinch salt
- a pinch pepper
Directions
| 1. | To make the dough, mix the flour, milk, the egg beaten, the baking powder to get a smooth mixture. Let it rest for at least an hour. |
| 2. | Heat up some oil in a pan placed on the stovetop. |
| 3. | Heat up some oil in a pan placed on the stovetop. |
| 4. | Dip the shrimps one by one into the batter and place them in the hot oil. You can first dust the shrimps with a little bit of flour to allow the batter to stick to them better. |
| 5. | Dip the shrimps one by one into the batter and place them in the hot oil. You can first dust the shrimps with a little bit of flour to allow the batter to stick to them better. |
| 6. | Flip the beignets once to allow them to cook completely. They are ready when they are a golden brown color. |
| 7. | Flip the beignets once to allow them to cook completely. They are ready when they are a golden brown color. |
Note
Adapted from http://azizen.com/friture/banh-tom-chien-beignet-de-crevettes/
