Today we are making a yummy little appetizer Chạo tôm! If you don’t know what it is, it’s essentially shrimp on sugarcane sticks.

When I was younger, my grandma would often make this and sometimes at parties you will also see this dish served. The most telltale sign of this dish is the sugarcane stick. The funny part is when I was younger. I used to not like the shrimp part and only eat the sugar cane stick, so there was always a lot of shrimp patties with all the sticks missing lol.

Wrapped around each sugarcane stick is a little seasoned shrimp patty. Each stick is then grilled or fried until peak yumminess! If you have leftovers, you can also reheat this in the air fryer. It’s still so yummy! 

Also, it’s hard to find sugarcane fresh in many places (PS it’s also a pain to cut open) so I opted for getting sugarcane in a can, and you’re gonna find these at most Asian markets. You are actually gonna end up having extra sugarcane, so I just put it into the fridge and cut it into smaller pieces to snack on. Win-win. 

How to Make Chạo Tôm (Sugarcane Shrimp)

Recipe by Jen H. DaoCourse: Recipes, AppetizersCuisine: asian, viet, vietnameseDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)

• 7-8 sugarcanes (cut in half lengthwise)

• 2 small garlic cloves (minced)

• 1 small shallot (minced)

• 1/2 in ginger (minced)

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 3/4 tsp fish sauce

• 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon

• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp oil + oil for frying

• 1 tsp potato starch

Directions

• In a food processor: shallot, garlic and ginger until chopped. Repeat with shrimp. (Since my food processor is small, I had to do this in batches)
• Add aromatics and shrimp to a bowl. Then add all seasonings, oil and potato starch. Mix everything together and place into freezer for at least 10 mins.
• Oil your hands and take a spoonful of the shrimp, flatten it, and then gently wrap it around a sugarcane stick. Place them in the freezer while you wait for the oil to heat up.
• Heat frying pan with 2 inches of oil on med heat. Once the oil is hot, place 2-3 shrimp sticks in. Cooking for 5 mins and flipping halfway. Serve with noodles or rice and Nước Chấm.

Recipe Video