Kimchi Shrimp Cakes, a home-kitchen plate

These kimchi shrimp cakes are made with kimchi, tofu, and shrimp. It makes a great appetizer or serve with rice as a main dish.

Oh, no! Our winter cabbage Kimchi came to an end… 🙁 There was only one head of Kimchi left lonely in our Kimchi container. Alas! Tears streaming down on our cheeks (just the imaginary tears)… we have to say goodbye to her.

We have enjoyed stews, pan cakes, fried rice, and patties, etc with it all through the winter. It has been a wonderful culinary journey with our fabulous Kimchi this winter.

So for our final farewell party, we made Kimchi cakes with the help of shrimp and tofu. If you have some nasty fermented Kimchi abandoned in the back corner of your fridge, bring them out to the world. This recipe will bring the dinner in snap. It is short and direct to cook, wonderful for weeknight menu.

The guest lists are; Kimchi, shrimps, tofu, chives, panko crumbs, eggs, sesame oil, sesame seeds, salt and pepper.

1. We used 8 of 21-25 counts big shrimps. Dice them into small chunks.
2. Squeeze your kimchi to remove her juice.
3. Chop her as fine as you can.
4. Wrap the tofu tightly with the cotton cloth and squeeze him to remove his juice as well.
5. In a bowl combine shrimps, kimchi, tofu and some chopped chives (or green onions).
6. Add panko crumbs, sesame oil, sesame seeds, salt, pepper, and an egg. Then we realized…
7. One egg was not enough to hold the mixture together. They looked too crumbly.
8. So we added another egg and mixed all with hand by massaging them around. Looks just right.
9. You want to massage them so the tofu will get mashed and incorporated with everything.
10. Scoop a spoonful of mixture onto hot oiled skillet. Press gently to flatten down a bit.
11. We wouldn’t worry about making steady shape on these cakes. Save your worries to other things in life…
12. Pan fry them for 3-4 minutes on each side over medium to med-low heat, until nice and brown.

That is all to it. Quite unfussy and direct, right?

Our sweet angel loved it. We meant to serve them as a snack but she ate them like a dinner with some rice.

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 20 minutes
• Total: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/3 lb sour kimchi
• 8 (21-25 counts size) large frozen shrimps, thawed and chopped
• 8 oz firm tofu, drained
• 1/4 cup chives or green onion, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• pinch salt and pepper
• some canola or grape seed oil, for sauteing

Method

1. Squeeze kimchee to remove its juice and moisture, chop finely, reserve about 1 cup.
2. Wrap tofu with a cotton cloth tightly and squeeze out to remove as much water as possible.
3. In a mixing bowl combine kimchee, shrimps, and tofu. Add chives, eggs, panko crumbs, sesame oil, sesame seeds and season with salt and pepper. With your hand, massage them around to mix so the tofu will get mashed and everything gets incorporated. The mixture should feel wet and sticky.
4. Heat about 1 Tbsp of oil in the skillet over medium heat. Scoop a spoonful of kimchee shrimp mixture on the skillet and gently press down to flatten a little bit. Saute for 3-4 minutes on each side until nice and brown.
5. Adjust heat so they won't burn. Drizzle more oil in the skillet if needed.
6. Serve hot with some rice or eat as it is.