Who wants to figure out this *food memory*?

M

marilynfl

Moderator
Who: Me

What: Did I eat?

Why: I want to make it again

Where: Coconut Grover farmer's market

When: 1988

Larry and I were living in a new town (Coral Gables) and as per usual, had no money. We were at a cheap apartment complex at the edge of town and my old Chevy truck (with no A/C) was THE ONLY TRUCK in a grocery parking lot filled to Mercedes, BMWs & RollsRoyces; I must admit that made it easy to find.

Anyway, the Coconut Grove Farmer's Market was right across Rt 1 and down the street. It was still a true farmer's market where you could get lots of food for little money. Mangos were 10 to a bag for $1.

There was a stand with a deep fryer operated by an Oriental woman. When you ordered, she pointed to a bowl of cleaned shrimp and mimed Yes or No. I would nod YES and she would scoop a thick batter (think waffle batter) into a bowl, add fresh mung beans, green onions & cleaned shrimp, then ladled it into the hot oil, patting it until it flatten.

When it was all done, she lifted out a thick 5" diameter fried pancake (again, about as thick as a waffle) and mimed squirting something that looked like ketchup {which I now know is Srirachi}.

I handed her $1.50.

It would have been $1 if I skipped the shrimp.

Which brings us to this: what FOOD ethnicity was I enjoying? I was 35 and had only eaten Chinese food (well, Japanese once and didn't like it), so I can't provide more insight. I have tried for years to find a thick deep-fried pancake in Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean &Japanese cookbooks...and failed.

One day I found a book at the library called something like "Asian Street Food" and thought I'd found the Rosetta Stone, but no luck.

 
Checked it out and no, I've made that recipe. It's more of a crepe with filling and the

one I had was a thick fried batter embedded with stuff...at least 1/2" thick, maybe more.

I could probably test out fritter batter with rice & wheat flour and come up with something similar, but I'd REALLY like to know what I ate back then. Plus I don't like to fry stuff, so I'd prefer to wait and test out something closer.

Thanks for joining in the challenge!

 
Actually I quoted your comment about the waffle like base with the fillings on Google

and a lot came up with pictures, especially on Pinterest. You should give that a try....you may spot a photo right away.

 
That looks more like it, but it was even slightly thicker, deep-fried with less veggies. Of course

ALL of those could be a street vendor's way of saving money. Do Korean's use Srirachi? That is the ONE thing I figured out years later.

 
Wow. All these recipes/suggestions sound like different versions of Egg Foo Yong (Young) : . . .

Batter, veggies (especially the mung bean sprouts), and shrimp (or what ever meaty thing you wish!). These all seem to be a riff on the same thing, if you get my gist.

Deep frying it would make it easy on the cook as the oil would keep hot longer, you could cook more frequently. I make my egg foo young with just a little oil in a large cast iron skillet; I don't usually fry things either.

I have had really *bad* egg food young that was basically a deep fried, floury pancake with few to no veggies and no meat. I have had much better ones. And I don't usually put flour in mine.

Maybe something like the following recipe-- But flatten them out? Most of the oriental shrimp fritter recipe have you drop the finished batter (with the shrimp mixed in) into the hot fat by spoons-full. I'd shallow fry them in a big cast iron pan; easy to flatten.

Thai Prawn and Bean Sprout Fritters with Thai Chilli Sauce
(makes 12 Fritters)

1 cup rice flour
6 tablespoons plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sparkling mineral water ( plus more if needed)

Filling
115g ( 4 ounces) bean sprouts
230g (8 ounces) prawns, peeled, deveined and cut into small pieces
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

Place rice flour, plain flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in mineral water with a whisk. The batter should not be too thick - the consistency of heavy cream. Add more water if necessary then allow to stand for 30 minutes.
Add the prawns, bean sprouts, spring onions and garlic to the batter. Stir well.

Have ready a baking sheet lined with several thicknesses of paper towel.
Pour about 1/2 inch of oil into a frying pan ( I used an electric non-stick). Heat to medium hot. When the oil is quite hot, spoon in 6 heaped tablespoons of fritter batter

After a minute or two, when they fritters are golden brown, flip over and continue until golden brown all over. Remove to paper towels to drain. Continue with the remaining batter.

https://marcellinaincucina.blogspot.com/2013/09/thai-shrimp-or-prawn-and-bean-sprout.html

 
Or this recipe from Epi: (more)

You could top with sriracha of course.

Shrimp and scallion pancakes
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup water
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 bunch scallions, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and halved lengthwise
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
Accompaniment: soy-pickled jalapeños including liquid

Preparation

Preheat oven to 200°F. Set a rack in a 4-sided sheet pan and put in oven. Mince and mash garlic with 3/4 teaspoon salt, then whisk together with water, eggs, and sesame oil. Whisk in flour until smooth. Stir in scallions, bell pepper, and shrimp.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Stir batter, then cook pancakes in batches of 4 (2 tablespoons each, with some vegetables and 1 or 2 pieces shrimp), pressing down lightly with a large spatula to flatten and evenly distribute vegetables, turning once, until golden and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels, then transfer to rack in oven to keep warm. Add oil to skillet between batches as needed.

Cooks' note:
Pancakes can be kept warm up to 1 hour.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/shrimp-and-scallion-pancakes-351910

 
If it was Korean food, it might have been Gochujang/go ju jang, which is common in

Korean cuisine. It is a red chili based sauce or paste.

Many Asian cuisines have the vinegar-y garlic chili sauces similar to Sriracha - Sambal Olek is another popular one.

 
I was going to suggest that also but it is usually much thinner and served with

lettuce and things to roll it up with and dipped in a carrotty dipping sauce--our FAVE Viet dish for sure.

 
Oh, this is definitely starting to look more like it. I never knew about Malaysian cuisine. I

knew Chinese and Japanese and then saw a Thai restaurant in Coral Gables...and that was it!

 
I sure know I had the most unbelievable, delicous, out of this world

good pork satay in Malaysia out of all our travel in Asia. I have never been able to recreate it.

 
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