Directions

1. Use a paper to dry the shrimp. Smash and finely chop them.

2. You can use all pure shrimp meat but I like to mix in a different type of protein (ground pork, turkey, or a nice piece of fish fillet). What I am using today is boneless and skinless chicken leg meat. Grind the chicken meat finely.
3. In a blender cup, add the following ingredients: 1 clove of garlic, 2 slices of ginger, 1 piece of the white part of the scallion, 2 tbsp of fish sauce, 1 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine. Blend everything into a puree. Use a sieve to get rid of the solid part. Save the liquid part for later.
4. In a big mixing bowl, combined the following ingredients: Ground shrimp, ground chicken, the remaining liquid, 1 egg white, 3 tbsp of sweet potato starch ( Can be replaced by cornstarch, potato starch, wheat starch), some white pepper to taste, some onion powder to taste, 1 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt or to taste, and 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
5. Stir the mixture within one direction for 5 minutes. After that, grab the paste and throw it back to the bowl with some force. Repeat this for another 5 minutes. This helps the protein combined together. Then the shrimp balls will have a firm but also soft texture.
6. Add some minced carrot to the mixture. You can use other vegetables, such as scallion, cilantro, even diced green or red jalapeno. Just remember 1 rule, always add the vegetables the last because they do slow down the protein from binding together. Set it aside.
7. Use your left hand to grab a handful of shrimp&chicken mixture. Gently squeeze it and a little bowl will form out. Dip your spoon in water and use it to scoop the shrimp ball out. Put it in the sliced almond bowl. Use your right hand to pick up the almond slices and coat the ball surface. Lightly press the almond so it sticks better. Keep doing that until you finish everything. Let them sit for 15 minutes.
8. Heat the oi to 350 F. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the shrimp balls in. The ingredient will drop the oil temperature down a little bit. That is ok, we do not want to fry them on high heat, because the almond will get burned before the inside gets cooked through. Also, don’t touch the shrimp balls immediately or else the almond will fall off. At least wait for 15 seconds. Gently stir them around to ensure an even color.
9. This will take about 7 - 8 minutes. The almond should be golden. Take them out and fry the next batch. Unlike bread coating, you do not need to double fry them because the nut can stay crunchy for quite a while.
10. Use paper or a basket to get rid of the excess grease. Serve with your favorite hot sauce. Enjoy!