This classic Chinese appetizer gets its eye-catching appearance and crunchy texture from a coating of white bread cubes.
Shrimp balls come in many forms. Street food carts serve their most basic iteration: bouncy ping pong balls molded from pale shrimp paste. Chinese restaurants, on the other hand, like to add a deep-fried coating for texture. Gloria Maris, for example, roll their shrimp balls in panko breadcrumbs. Ling Nam takes it up a notch by using strips of wonton wrapper.
Then there’s these shrimp balls, resembling grenades or turtle shells. Establishments like King Crab House, Lugang Café, and the now-closed Comida China de Manila serve them in this style: clad in bread cubes with a side of sweet chili sauce or mayonnaise.
These homemade bread-crusted shrimp balls make an impressive addition to any dinner spread, sure to be the star of your family's flatlays. They taste as good as they look, too, so make sure to make a double batch. Here's how to make them.
Unlike our panko-crusted Thai shrimp cakes, these shrimp balls are rolled in cubes of sandwich bread. This gives the balls their turtle shell-like appearance. Once fried, the cubes dehydrate into a golden brown coating with a light, shattering crunch.
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You want to slice your sandwich bread into ½- to ¼-inch cubes—not too big, not too small. Anything bigger will fall off your shrimp balls while frying.
