When my eldest sister came to visit in mid April, we were reminiscing on our family recipes, especially all the dishes that our late mother used to prepare on a daily basis. My mother was an excellent and creative home cook. She fed us every day with 4 to 5 dishes.
On our dining table, there were always soup, pork/chicken, seafood, tofu/eggs, and vegetables.
Somehow, she managed to cook something new and never seemed to run out of ideas. Even though we came from a poor family, we ate well, extremely well…a revelation that I only realized much later in life.
As we were talking, I remembered the shrimp fritters, or hee chee, that my mother used to make—doughy nuggets of little shrimp, bean sprouts and flour, fried to golden brown and served with her homemade garlic chili sauce.
The thought of the shrimp fritters immediately made my mouth water. It’s a dish that I haven’t had for a long while, one recipe that my family is particularly fond of…
So here it is, my mother’s simple yet delicious shrimp fritters recipe. It is very easy to make and takes only a few basic ingredients.
I have made it again and again since my sister left, it is so good that my good friend’s little boy gave his thumb up after his first bite. Try it and I am sure you will enjoy this homey and nostalgic recipe from my late mother.
Other delicious family recipes that you might like:
- Chili Crab
- Sweet and Sour Eggs (masak Belanda)
- Prawn Sambal (sambal udang)
- Stewed Pork Ribs
- Sesame Oil Chicken
- Braised Pork Belly in Soy Sauce (tau yew bak)
- Assam Prawn
- Fish Head Curry
- Squid Curry (gulai sotong)
- Stir-fry Pork with Cincaluk
- Chai Buey
- Sambal Stuffed Fish
Shrimp Fritters Recipe
Shrimp Fritters Recipe | Easy Asian Recipes rasamalaysia.com.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 tablespoon rice flour, (optional)
- 4 oz peeled baby shrimp, rinsed and pat dry
- 4 oz bean sprouts, rinsed
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- Oil for deep-frying
Instructions
-
Combine all the ingredients (except the oil) in a bowl and mix well. The mixture might seem very dry at first, but eventually, it will become slightly watery.
-
Heat up a wok with enough oil for shallow-frying. As soon as the oil is fully heated, lower it to medium heat. Use a tablespoon to scoop up a heaping tablespoon of the mixture and gently drop it into the wok. Repeat the same until the oil is 80% filled with the shrimp fritters (you will have to fry in 2-3 batches depending on the size of your wok). Turn the shrimp fritters over and fry until both sides are golden brown. Dish out with a strainer, draining excess oil by laying the shrimp fritters on a dish lined with paper towels. Serve immediately with your favorite chili sauce.
Recipe Notes
You can trim the ends of the bean sprouts if you like. You can add some carrot strips into the mixture. It adds color (and a mild sweet flavor) to the shrimp fritters. I also like (orange-color) sweet potato strips, which makes the shrimp fritters even better. This recipe is best when made with tiny baby shrimp called geragau (which is used to make cincaluk). For vegetarian fritters, check out Indochine Kitchen's recipe here .
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Jim
What would be a good side dish
Caroline Poh
You are a good cook, just like your mom. I tried your shrimp fritters recipe and they taste so delicious! I’m cooking them tonight again.
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks Caroline, yes this shrimp fritters recipe is very good. :)
Virginia
Hello…here in the Philippines we call it “okoy”.. Instead of balls we fry it flat…BTW do you have a compilation of your recipes as in cooking book?
Rasa Malaysia
This is my book: https://rasamalaysia.com/easy-asian-takeout/
Hans Smedbol
thanks Bee…i guess i had my settings such that i couldn’t see the “search” function, because it was off side of the main part of the page…i tend to “zoom” the page to 200% so it’s easier for my aging eyes to read…so i missed the search box….don’t know why i didn’t think to scroll sideways…
Hans Smedbol
hi again Bee…
i just realised, looking at your other commentators’s submissions, that i may have misspelled the name as “cucok udang”, when i see there’s “Cucur udang”….
i was trying to put in written words what i hear when my wife names them…and some Malaysian words are hard to put in writing if you are not Malaysian, or know the language at least, somewhat.
and i see that you do have recipes for the Cucur Udang…..but again they are somewhat different looking from what my wife has made…as i said she makes them more flattish and thinner than yours appear to be…and they get quite lacy looking around the edges.
Hans Smedbol
Hi Bee
my wife, Easwari is from Malaysia too, Penang as a matter of fact, as she grew up in Bukit Mertajam…she has a dish that she calls “cucok udang” (prawn fritters) which seems to be very similar to your shrimp fritters, except she adds a few more vegies and they wind up more flattened out and kind of lacy looking….when she makes those (i help by frying them, once she’s put the batter together), i’m in prawn fritter heaven…..so delicious that words fail me…
i think that cucok udang are one of the many delicious “street foods” that you can buy from the street vendors….but as i’ve never managed to make it to Malaysia, i don’t know from my own experience….(although i do want to go there some day…as it seems to be an amazing place)…
i wonder if you might also have a recipe for “cucok udang” more in the style that she makes it? i suspect it’s more the Malay version, than the Chinese…but you seem very familiar with all the various kinds of cookery in Malayasia….
also i wish you had a “search” function on your Rasa Malaysia website, as it might be easier to find some of the recipes, that one may know the names of….
thanks…i love your site…always look for Malaysian, Chinese and Malaysian Indian style foods at your site first….
when my wife was recently in Malaysia to attend a funeral, she came back with three packages of “Rendang” paste, of which i used one, to make chicken rendang one day…and was it ever delicious!!! almost as good as what i’ve had from restaurants in Vancouver, although it was Beef Rendang at those places….
Rasa Malaysia
Hans, the Search is at the top right corner of the website you can search any recipes you like.
Ai Teng
Like you , I grew up with fantastic home cooked food by mum – mainly Penang Nyonya food :) I have been exploring few of your recipes and love them a lot as it is really similar to my mum’s cooking . And, this is one more childhood food that I crave a lot but difficult to get a good one from shops these days . Will try this out soon and thank for sharing your passion particularly Nyonya food .
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks Ai Teng.
AL. Deliganu
Nice receipe worth trying at home and make children happy.
Rael Thomas
Great site, thanks for sharing your passion!
Tina Pham
These things are very addictive!!! Thank you for the recipe!
http://yummies4dummies.blogspot.com/
J2Kfm
Love these a lot. Used to buy lots of them from the night market, though they’re slightly different; cucur udang’s the name. The prawns are deep-fried with shells intact though.
Little Inbox
My mom’s version is the flat type with shallots added.
That’s our family’s favorite. :)
Rasa Malaysia
Oooh, the flat type is extra garing and crispy. Love it. :)
[email protected]
This is a simple dish with big memory! Your mom must be very proud of you. Thanks for sharing another fine example of a homey Malaysian dish. I love all the fritters with taugeh. They add to the sweetness and the crunch. Btw, Happy Duanwu Jie!
Melanie Chong
This is so timely! Was craving them. When I grew up in Penang, I used to get the “cok udang” during school breaks for 20 sen! This is the Malay version vs. my mom’s chinese version (without the sprouts). Thanks Bee.
Rasa Malaysia
Melanie – so glad to bring back the shrimp fritters memory for you, 20 cents, wow. I wish now we can still get things for 20 cents in Malaysia. ;)
in
Ahhh….cucur udang….another of my favourites! My mom adds chopped red chillies and onions in hers. I’ve never cooked this with taugeh…will try soon. In the Asian Food channel, local celebrity Chef Wan does this with even more ingredients: cream corn(!), tumeric powder, dried prawns, taugeh, fresh prawns, diced tomato, yellow dhal, onions, green chillies, daun kucai/bawang.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi In – yes, you can add a lot of things into this shrimp fritters but I grew up eating this very simple version, which is equally delicious. I don’t like too much ingredients as I wanted the simple and clean flavors to shine through.
Shirley
Love shrimp fritters. My mom used to make it too. Perfect as a finger food or appetizer.
Rasa Malaysia
Absolutely. When I make this, I eat them as soon as they are out of the wok, before they get to the dining table. LOL.
Ken
Oh man, this shrimp fritters look good. If the links are the dishes you ate while growing up, you did eat well!
Rasa Malaysia
LOL. You’re right, those dishes are our family dishes, the ones that my late mother used to cook for us. Yes, as I said. We ate well, very very well.