Vietnamese-Style Crispy Shrimp Cakes Recipe (2024)

I wonder why the author calls for large shrimp? Since one is going to make a paste of the shrimp, wouldn't salad shrimp do just as well and be a lot cheaper? Just curious.

Was extremely disappointed to waste a pound of gorgeous wild caught shrimp on this recipe. Prep time was much longer (of course It is with every recipe unless you have staff to do the prep work....). My complaint differs from some below. My guess is that they skipped the cornstarch for the patties. 1/4 cup of cornstarch was WAY too much - my patties came out like hockey pucks. I would recommend 2 T to others attempting this recipe. Which I won't - too many recipes, too little time.

Further to my post, here is my mom’s Nuoc Mam (fish sauce).This yields about 1/4 cup of sauce. To make more, just follow the proportion of ingredients.1 Tbsp fish sauce5 Tbsp water1 Tbsp sugar1/2 Tbsp lemon juice/or white vinegar (she prefers lemon juice)1 clove garlic (or more if you prefer)1 Thai chilliUse a mortar and pestle to pound the sugar, chilli and garlic till pasty. Add the remaining liquids and mix. Done. The beauty is, you can adjust the ingredients to taste.

I added another teaspoon of sugar to sauce and didn't use cornstarch and they were great.

Followed the recipe with regards to the shrimp cakes and was very pleased with them. They taste pretty authentic to me (I was born in Vietnam). To dress up the vermicelli, I heat up some vegetable oil and cook up some chopped scallion. This goes on top of the vermicelli and really makes it flavourful. I also add julienned cucumber, carrots and bean sprouts to the noodles for texture. I make my own fish sauce with my Mom’s recipe.

I make this recipe, as written, fairly often. I cook 3-4 patties and freeze the rest. They thaw quickly and are indistinguishable from the "fresh" ones. One of my favorite recipes! So tasty. I have not experienced any of the complaints in these comments. The sauce is key!

Simply, I've never had that briny flavor out of those tiny shrimp. The operative word here is 'coarse paste', not unlike what goes into assembling a crab cake. I don't believe that it's gruel that is being asked for here. Body and flavor is what this recipe if to me upon my reading. Going to give this a 'go' this weekend.

Use a (wooden) meat mallet/tenderizer to shred/pound each shrimp ( worth the extra 5 minutes!) so there are slight air gaps in the shrimp’s structure making them light and airy vs pulverizing them in a processor, which makes them hard and rubbery. Also, leaving it in fridge overnight made them hold together perfectly. Used 1 1/2 lbs shrimp to normal amount of corn flour ( rolling in corn flour made a beautiful crust). Also add a tsp each of finely chopped mint & cilantro, and lemon zest instead

Made these cakes this week and used a little less corn starch based on a previous reviewer.Also to make the process go faster I used my 2 tablespoon scoop and packed the mixture into the belly of the scoop, pressed them down a bit. That way I didn't have to form any ball. The sauce seemed a bit thin so I added some corn starch (heated it with the rest of the sauce) to help it stay on the cake better.Good recipe.

I love these and have made them multiple times exactly as directed, the only addition being some hours or overnight in the fridge before frying, and sometimes I add sliced serranos to the dipping sauce too. Last time instead of serving over noodles we cut them with sliced cucumber and folded into lettuce wraps, topped with cilantro and sauce. Delicious.

Further to my post, here is my mom’s Nuoc Mam (fish sauce).This yields about 1/4 cup of sauce. To make more, just follow the proportion of ingredients.1 Tbsp fish sauce5 Tbsp water1 Tbsp sugar1/2 Tbsp lemon juice/or white vinegar (she prefers lemon juice)1 clove garlic (or more if you prefer)1 Thai chilliUse a mortar and pestle to pound the sugar, chilli and garlic till pasty. Add the remaining liquids and mix. Done. The beauty is, you can adjust the ingredients to taste.

I read other people’s comments to learn from them. Someone suggested leaving in the fridge for a while; I left them in for 24 hours prior to cooking and they held together perfectly. My input: The trick to a light, fluffy shrimp patty is to use a (wooden) meat mallet/tenderizer to pound each shrimp lightly. This tends to shred them vs pulverize them into too fine of particles, leaving gaps of air between various pieces of shrimp, making them airy & light and not heavy and rubbery.

Use a (wooden) meat mallet/tenderizer to shred/pound each shrimp ( worth the extra 5 minutes!) so there are slight air gaps in the shrimp’s structure making them light and airy vs pulverizing them in a processor, which makes them hard and rubbery. Also, leaving it in fridge overnight made them hold together perfectly. Used 1 1/2 lbs shrimp to normal amount of corn flour ( rolling in corn flour made a beautiful crust). Also add a tsp each of finely chopped mint & cilantro, and lemon zest instead

I thought this was excellent. I did use the full amount of cornstarch that the recipe calls for, and my cakes puffed up nicely.

I love shrimp cakes! Followed the directions but as others suggested reduced the corn starch to only 2 tablespoons. I think next time I might just sub in panko since I found the texture to be a bit grainy. I also chilled the cakes for about 45 minutes before cooking. This helps the ingredients to bind so that when cooked, they don't fall apart. I also didn't use a food processor in the first step. I minced the garlic, pepper and scallions then crushed to a chunky paste in a mortar.

Followed the recipe with regards to the shrimp cakes and was very pleased with them. They taste pretty authentic to me (I was born in Vietnam). To dress up the vermicelli, I heat up some vegetable oil and cook up some chopped scallion. This goes on top of the vermicelli and really makes it flavourful. I also add julienned cucumber, carrots and bean sprouts to the noodles for texture. I make my own fish sauce with my Mom’s recipe.

I made this tonight and it turned out great. I followed the directions, but taking into account several comments about the patties falling apart, I made the cakes ahead of time and put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes. I also used only 2 Tbs of corn starch in the mixture with no additional dusting, as recommended by someone. They held together perfectly and browned nicely in the peanut oil. When I make crab cakes, I refrigerate them for a half hour before cooking and they stay intact.

A few notes:1) this doesn't stick together as is. I followed the recipe, but ended up having to add an egg.2) when frying the cakes, start out by putting them in a place with less oil (in my case, the middle of the pan). This will solidify the shape and hold them together. After they're sticking together and have browned, move them to the area with more oil. With this method, they cook faster and won't fall apart.3) this basic formula could work great with different flavor combinations.

I cut out the sugar, cut the cornstarch in half and added a cup of panko crumbs, b/c the batter looked too wet to hold together without adding more binder. Tasted great with my changes and will make it again.

I cut the garlic in half (my partner does not like garlic) and swapped potato starch for the corn starch. Totally great recipe.

Was extremely disappointed to waste a pound of gorgeous wild caught shrimp on this recipe. Prep time was much longer (of course It is with every recipe unless you have staff to do the prep work....). My complaint differs from some below. My guess is that they skipped the cornstarch for the patties. 1/4 cup of cornstarch was WAY too much - my patties came out like hockey pucks. I would recommend 2 T to others attempting this recipe. Which I won't - too many recipes, too little time.

Mush. I followed the recipe fairly carefully but the patties turned out to be hash, would not hold together but tasted fine.

I would make these in a smaller bite size serving for an appetizer. Amazing flavor!