Name: Shrimp Balls (蝦球)
Yield: Serves 4 to 6 as a single appetizer; more with an assortment.
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 large egg white, beaten until very foamy; 1 tablespoon dry sherry; 3 water chestnuts; 1 pound small or medium shrimp; 1 large scallion, white part only; 1 teaspoon salt; 4 to 6 cups oil; 3 tablespoons water; 3 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; Roasted salt-pepper; 2 quarter-sized slices peeled ginger

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 6
as a single appetizer .

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Key to Chinese Cooking

By Irene Kuo

Published 1977

About

Crisp outside and fluffy and succulent inside, these minced-shrimp balls make delicious appetizers or a main dish. Moisturized by minced water chestnuts and fluffed by the well-beaten egg white, this is an excellent base mixture with which to make Shrimp Toast or Shrimp Balls and Transparent-Noodle Soup.

Ingredients

1 pound small or medium shrimp
3 water chestnuts
1 large scallion,

Method

Preparations

Shell the shrimp and devein if veins are large. Mince fine by chopping them into small pieces first, then mince with one or two cleavers or heavy knives until smooth. Or grind them, using the coarse blade, then follow by march-chopping until the consistency is smooth but not puréed. What you want is a smooth-textured consistency; not a pasty one. Place the minced shrimp i