Impress your guests with some delicious Asian-inspired appetizers including rock shrimp tempura and Indonesian corn fritters, courtesy of chef Rodelio Aglibot.
Recipe: Rock shrimp tempura (on this page)
Recipe: Indo corn fritters with sweet onion dipping sauce (on this page)
For shrimp
Pat dry rock shrimp with paper towels. In a mixing bowl, toss rock shrimp in ½ cup of tempura flour until all pieces are covered, spread out on lined sheet pan and hold in freezer.
To make tempura tempura batter, place remaining 1½ cups of tempura flour in a bowl, slowly add cold water. Using your hands as a spoon, mix water and flour together, batter will be lumpy with bits of flour, do not overmix or make smooth.
Carefully drop floured shrimp into batter and then using your hands, drop each piece of battered shrimp into the hot oil, make sure your fingers are coated with the batter. This will protect your hands from the hot oil. Do this in small batches, about a cup of shrimp at a time, as this will give you time to drop each piece and for you to wash your hands.
Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, break up any pieces of shrimp stuck together and turn any pieces over.
Once the shrimp is golden brown, remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
For creamy mayo
In a mixing bowl, fold all ingredients until smooth and uniform, set aside covered at room temperature, if storing refrigerate.
For presentation
In a mixing bowl, spoon creamy mayo onto the bottom of the bowl, add fried shrimp, walnuts and greens, toss until well covered, you may need to add more mayo. Transfer to serving bowl and serve.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
For corn fritters
Combine ½ cup cold water with ½ cup tempura flour. Add salt, then remaining water — the texture should feel clumpy so batter will hold while remaining somewhat loose. Adjust water as necessary so texture is consistency of smooth paste.
Combine corn, celery, garlic, coriander seeds and green onions. Fold corn mixture evenly into batter.
Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into a fryer heated to 350 degrees F. Fry until both sides are golden brown, with lots of textures and hues. Add more flour to batter if mixture doesn’t hold. Each fritter should be slightly bigger than a tablespoon and no more than 3/4-inch thick.
Remove fritters from oil and drain on paper towels to blot excess oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve with sweet onion dipping sauce.
For dipping sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a blender; reserve.
Makes 24 pieces
© 2012 MSNBC Interactive
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