Attempt my elegant but simple Ebi Shinjo recipe to benefit from the delicate style of this kaiseki dish in your every day dinner or gentle lunch. I’ll share my suggestions for making gentle and fluffy shrimp dumplings in a fast and flavorful clear soup.
In case you’ve stayed in a Japanese ryokan or dined at a proper kaiseki restaurant, you’ve in all probability loved ebi shinjo. With fluffy and delicate shrimp (ebi) dumplings in clear soup, it’s a sublime and basic dish that’s additionally easy sufficient to make at residence. Observe my simple Ebi Shinjo recipe to make these versatile dumplings for a home-cooked dinner, gentle spring lunch, or celebratory meal.
Want extra artistic shrimp dishes? Attempt my Shrimp Tempura, Japanese Pasta and With Shrimp and Asparagus, and Shrimp Fried Rice subsequent!
What’s Shinjo?
Shinjo (真薯, しんじょ) is a paste of mashed fish or shellfish, grated mountain yam, and egg white. It’s just like different fish paste merchandise like kamaboko and hanpen. The formed dumplings are steamed, fried, or boiled and normally served in soup or oden. Referred to as masho in some areas, shinjo has existed since at the least Japan’s Edo interval (1603–1868).
Why I Love This Recipe
- Straightforward to make – I exploit simply 4 substances for the dumplings, a easy kombu inventory for cooking them, and a savory dashi broth for the clear soup.
- Elegant and light-weight – With its fluffy texture, delicate style, and understated presentation, that is the quintessential Japanese delicacies that I usually crave.
- Excellent for seasonal cooking – Like all kaiseki dish, shinjo is a seasonal dish. It’s a versatile canvas for customizing with peak-harvest proteins, veggies, and garnishes.
- Versatile for any event – I like that this dish is equally at residence in an ichiju sansai meal and particular celebratory feast.
Substances for Ebi Shinjo
- Shrimp
- Mountain yam (nagaimo/yamaimo)
- Potato starch or cornstarch
- Grated ginger
- Kosher salt
- Kombu (dried kelp) and water – for the simmering inventory (kombu dashi)
- Dashi (Japanese soup inventory) – for the soup broth (awase dashi); I make a fast dashi with water and dashi packets
- Yuzu zest and mitsuba (Japanese parsley) or chives – optionally available garnish
Discover the printable recipe with measurements under.
Substitutions
- Shrimp: Attempt white fish or hanpen in case you can’t have shrimp. We use hanpen for this dish in Japan, nevertheless it’s not simple to seek out within the U.S. until you may have a Japanese market close by.
- Mountain yam: Referred to as nagaimo/yamaimo in Japanese, you could find it at a Japanese or Asian market. Sadly, there is no such thing as a substitute for mountain yam on this recipe.
- Dashi: I like to recommend good-quality dashi for the soup broth (awase dashi). If in case you have 20–half-hour, you may make Awase Dashi from scratch. For a handy time saver, I exploit dashi packets (discover them on Amazon) to make a fast 5-minute dashi that tastes practically pretty much as good. The third choice is to make on the spot inventory with dashi powder and water, nevertheless it’s not as flavorful.
Key Tools
Methods to Make Ebi Shinjo
Preparation
Step 1 – Prep the substances. Peel and lower the mountain yam and grate the ginger. Peel, slice in half, and devein the shrimp.
Step 2 – Make the cooking inventory. Steep the dried kelp in chilly water for at the least half-hour, then slowly carry it to a close to boil. Take away the kelp.
Step 3 – Course of the shrimp. Add salt and purée the shrimp in a meals processor for 30 seconds.
Step 4 – Purée the substances. Pulse the mountain yam, ginger, and potato starch with the shrimp ten instances simply till it’s a clean paste.
Cooking
Step 5 – Form the dumplings. Use a cookie scoop and two tablespoons to kind shrimp balls. Drop within the kombu inventory to simmer.
Step 6 – Prepare dinner. Flip the shrimp balls sometimes with chopsticks. They’re finished once they flip pink and register 145ºF (63ºC) internally.
Assemble
Step 7 – Garnish and serve. Place one shrimp shinjo in a soup bowl (I used a lidded bowl) and add scorching dashi broth. High with garnishes.
Nami’s Recipe Ideas
- Don’t rush making the simmering inventory – It takes time to extract the umami from dried kelp (kombu) for the cooking inventory. I like to recommend steeping it in water for at the least half-hour and heating it slowly over medium-low warmth.
- Aerate the shrimp paste – I pulse the meals processor simply ten instances to mix all of the substances. This provides air to the paste and creates a lightweight and fluffy texture.
- Don’t overprocess – Purée simply till clean and nonetheless ethereal. Keep away from working the meals processor too lengthy, which is able to make the combination pasty and dense.
- Type clean dumplings – I exploit two tablespoons to make spherical dumplings, scraping the shrimp paste from one spoon to the opposite to get a clean floor.
- Hold the cooking liquid clear – Whereas the dumplings prepare dinner, skim off the scum and fats floating on the floor. In case you don’t, the particles will follow the dumplings and switch to the soup bowls. We wish a transparent broth for a gorgeous presentation.
Variations and Customizations
- Use seasonal seafood. Select the freshest fish or shellfish out there on the market. I used shrimp as we speak, because it’s handy and at all times out there frozen. Nevertheless, I do love this recipe with peak-harvest crab or white fish to rejoice seasonality in my residence cooking.
- Add minced rooster. It boosts the protein and provides texture.
- Combine in greens. Chopped edamame, shiitake mushrooms, or seaweed add shade, taste, and fiber.
- Use seasonal garnishes. Swap up the yuzu zest with citrus and herbs out there in your space. In Japan, we add kinome (prickly ash) leaf, sudachi, and myoga (Japanese ginger). You can strive Meyer lemon or lime zest, chives, and younger ginger.
- Form into patties. Type the paste right into a spherical patty and grill it like a hamburger steak. Grilled or fried shinjo makes an excellent aspect dish for bento lunches.
What to Serve with Ebi Shinjo
- As a major dish – Prepare dinner it in Oden for a scorching and scrumptious pot of Japanese fish cake stew.
- As a aspect dish – Add it to you menu along with your favourite Japanese major dish like Ginger Pork.
- With salads – Pair it with Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing.
- In a bento field – Fried or grilled shinjo makes a tasty aspect dish in a lunchbox like Karaage Bento.
Storage and Reheating Ideas
To retailer: You’ll be able to preserve the leftover dumplings and dashi in separate hermetic containers and retailer within the fridge for as much as 3 days or within the freezer for a month.
To reheat: Defrost within the fridge in a single day and reheat till heat.
Steadily Requested Questions
The 2 shares—kombu dashi and awase dashi—serve completely different functions. You’ll use the kombu dashi because the simmering inventory to prepare dinner the dumplings. The awase dashi is the flavorful clear broth that you simply’ll serve into soup bowls to take pleasure in with the shrimp dumplings.
Though ebi shinjo is historically served in plain dashi broth to make a very elegant soup, you’ll be able to actually season it if you want with soy sauce, gentle soy sauce, sake, salt, or your favourite seasoning.
Sure, you’ll be able to fry the shrimp balls and drain them on paper towels or a wire rack. Serve along with your favourite dipping sauce, in case you’d like.
Sure, you’ll be able to substitute prawns and make a prawn paste as a substitute.
For the Simmering Inventory (Kombu Dashi)
For the Soup Broth (Awase Dashi)
For the Garnish (optionally available)
Forestall your display from going darkish
Earlier than You Begin…
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A minimum of half-hour earlier than beginning this recipe, soak 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) in 4 cups water.
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Now, collect all of the substances. On this recipe, you will make two shares—kombu dashi and awase dashi. Use the kombu dashi for the simmering inventory to prepare dinner the dumplings. The awase dashi is the clear soup broth that you’re going to serve into particular person bowls with the shrimp dumplings.
To Put together the Substances
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Peel the pores and skin off the mountain yam and measure 2.5 oz nagaimo/yamaimo (mountain yam) with a kitchen scale. Please weigh it exactly so you do not introduce an excessive amount of liquid into the shrimp combination.
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Minimize the mountain yam into smaller items, roughly ½-inch (1.25-cm) cubes.
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Grate the ginger (I exploit a chrome steel grater from JOC Items). Measure ½ tsp ginger, with juice.
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Minimize 11 oz shrimp in half sideways and take away the vein.
To Make the Simmering Inventory (Kombu Dashi)
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In a medium pot, regularly carry the soaked kombu and water to a simmer on medium-low warmth, which helps extract the umami from the kombu. If in case you have by no means made inventory utilizing dried kelp, try my Kombu Dashi tutorial.
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Proper earlier than the water reaches a simmer, take away the kombu. Now, you may have kombu dashi. You’ll be able to repurpose the spent kelp by making Kombu Tsukudani. Cowl the pot with a lid and put aside when you make the shrimp paste.
To Make the Shrimp Paste
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Put the shrimp and ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt within the bowl of a meals processor. Run it for 30 seconds.
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The chopped shrimp will start to interrupt down into paste however ought to nonetheless retain some small minced items.
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Subsequent, add the mountain yam, grated ginger, and 2 tsp potato starch or cornstarch. Utilizing the Pulse operate, pulse the combination 10 instances. It will assist add air to the combination.
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Scrape down the edges of the processor bowl and verify the consistency. You are on the lookout for a lightweight, clean texture with no minced items.
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Proceed simply till it is clean. Don’t overprocess, or the combination will change into dense and heavy.
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Switch the shrimp paste to a bowl.
To Prepare dinner the Shrimp Dumplings
To Serve
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Place one shrimp dumpling in every soup bowl (I used a lidded bowl from JOC Items). Ladle scorching soup broth (awase dashi) to about midway up the dumpling. Garnish with optionally available yuzu zest and mitsuba (Japanese parsley) with a knot tied within the stem.
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Serve scorching and revel in!
Energy: 81 kcal · Carbohydrates: 3 g · Protein: 16 g · Fats: 0.4 g · Saturated Fats: 0.1 g · Polyunsaturated Fats: 0.1 g · Monounsaturated Fats: 0.1 g · Trans Fats: 0.003 g · Ldl cholesterol: 126 mg · Sodium: 172 mg · Potassium: 293 mg · Fiber: 0.4 g · Sugar: 0.1 g · Vitamin A: 0.5 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 55 mg · Iron: 1 mg
