Ebi Shinjo (Shrimp Dumplings in Clear Soup)
Try my elegant yet easy Ebi Shinjo recipe to enjoy the delicate taste of this kaiseki dish in your daily dinner or bento. I'll share my tips for making light and fluffy shrimp dumplings in a quick and flavorful clear soup.
Servings: 4
Calories: 81kcal
Ingredients
For the Shrimp Dumplings
- 11 oz shrimp (peeled weight; about 15 medium pieces; sprinkle with sake to get rid of the odor, if any)
- 2.5 oz nagaimo/yamaimo (mountain yam) (peeled weight)
- ½ tsp ginger (grated, with juice)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 tsp potato starch or cornstarch
For the Simmering Stock (Kombu Dashi)
- 4 cups water
- 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) (13 x 15 cm, 5 x 6 inches per piece)
For the Soup Broth (Awase Dashi)
- 4 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (make quick dashi like I did with two dashi packets, Awase Dashi from scratch, or instant dashi with dashi powder and water)
For the Garnish (optional)
- mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (or chives)
- yuzu zest
Instructions
Before You Start...
- At least 30 minutes before starting this recipe, soak 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) in 4 cups water.
- Now, gather all the ingredients. In this recipe, you'll make two stocks—kombu dashi and awase dashi. Use the kombu dashi for the simmering stock to cook the dumplings. The awase dashi is the clear soup broth that you'll serve into individual bowls with the shrimp dumplings.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Peel the skin off the mountain yam and measure 2.5 oz nagaimo/yamaimo (mountain yam) with a kitchen scale. Please weigh it precisely so you don't introduce too much liquid into the shrimp mixture.
- Cut the mountain yam into smaller pieces, roughly ½-inch (1.25-cm) cubes.
- Grate the ginger (I use a stainless steel grater from JOC Goods). Measure ½ tsp ginger, with juice.
- Cut 11 oz shrimp in half sideways and remove the vein.
To Make the Simmering Stock (Kombu Dashi)
- In a medium pot, gradually bring the soaked kombu and water to a simmer on medium-low heat, which helps extract the umami from the kombu. If you have never made stock using dried kelp, check out my Kombu Dashi tutorial.
- Right before the water reaches a simmer, remove the kombu. Now, you have kombu dashi. You can repurpose the spent kelp by making Kombu Tsukudani. Cover the pot with a lid and set aside while you make the shrimp paste.
To Make the Shrimp Paste
- Put the shrimp and ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor. Run it for 30 seconds.
- The chopped shrimp will begin to break down into paste but should still retain some small minced pieces.
- Next, add the mountain yam, grated ginger, and 2 tsp potato starch or cornstarch. Using the Pulse function, pulse the mixture 10 times. This will help add air to the mixture.
- Scrape down the sides of the processor bowl and check the consistency. You're looking for a light, smooth texture with no minced pieces.
- Continue just until it's smooth. Do not overprocess, or the mixture will become dense and heavy.
- Transfer the shrimp paste to a bowl.
To Cook the Shrimp Dumplings
- Heat up the simmering stock (kombu dashi) in a pot to a low simmer. To shape the dumplings, measure a heaping scoopful of shrimp paste (I use a #40 [1½ Tbsp] medium cookie scoop). Then, transfer it to one of two tablespoons.
- Scrape the shrimp paste from one tablespoon to the other. Repeat a few times to form a ball. Scraping off the dumpling with the spoon edge will create a smooth surface.
- When you have nice surface, drop the dumpling into the simmering kombu dashi.
- Continue to shape the remaining dumplings and add them to the pot. Simmer until they turn pink and register an internal temperature of 145ºF (63ºC) using an instant-read thermometer. Use chopsticks to turn them once in a while for even cooking.Meanwhile, start heating 4 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) in a pot for serving the soup broth.
- As the dumplings cook, skim off the scum floating on the simmering stock's surface. This keeps the liquid clear and clean so the debris doesn't stick to the dumplings and transfer to the soup bowls. I love using a super fine-mesh skimmer from JOC Goods as it works great for fish and vegetable broths.
To Serve
- Place one shrimp dumpling in each soup bowl (I used a lidded bowl from JOC Goods). Ladle hot soup broth (awase dashi) to about halfway up the dumpling. Garnish with optional yuzu zest and mitsuba (Japanese parsley) with a knot tied in the stem.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftover dumplings and soup broth in separate airtight containers. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat until warm.
Nutrition
Calories: 81 kcal · Carbohydrates: 3 g · Protein: 16 g · Fat: 0.4 g · Saturated Fat: 0.1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1 g · Trans Fat: 0.003 g · 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