Vietnamese Sugar Cane Shrimp (Chao Tom)

The iconic Vietnamese dish of Chao Tom or sugar cane shrimp is simply richly flavoured shrimp paste wrapped around a piece of sugar cane. It combines the savoury umami flavours of seafood with the sweetness of sugar cane.

Ingredients:

• 1½ lbs/45 g raw shrimp
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 3-4 teaspoons fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 egg white, lightly whipped to a foam
• 2 teaspoons ground white pepper or equivalent in chopped chili
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil – sunflower oil, maize oil
• sugar cane, peeled and quartered into 8cm lengths
• pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Clean the shrimp under running cold water, remove the veins and dry the shrimp thoroughly between paper towels. .
2. Put the shrimp, white pepper, garlic, vegetable oil in a food processor. Blitz to make a smooth paste.
3. Put the shrimp paste in a medium sized bowl.
4. Lightly whip the egg white with an electronic hand beater until foaming.
5. Combine the shrimp paste with beaten egg white and mix well with a spoon or hand-held stirrer.
6. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and then divide the shrimp paste into 4 or 5 equal portions.
7. With oiled hands using some vegetable oil, wrap the shrimp paste around the sugar cane. Shape into a round block but leave between 1½ to 2 inches of the sugar cane exposed.
8. To a wok of hot vegetable oil, add the sugar cane shrimps and deep fry until golden brown. Serve immediately.