Wasabi Shrimp

By Kath Dedon

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It’s Halloween. I always feel that Halloween marks the entry into the holiday party season. I’m always on the lookout for easy dishes that can be made for entertaining or can easily be taken to a potluck party. Wasabi Shrimp is perfect for the holiday season!

To make Wasabi Shrimp you simply stuff cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp with cream cheese blended with wasabi paste. The result is a tasty sushi-like shrimp appetizer.

Most markets carry shrimp that is already cooked and ready to eat. Buy cooked shrimp if you prefer to keep it extra simple.

If you start with raw shrimp, you’ll need to poach them. I used an easy method that I found on Serious Eats. I put the shrimp, still in their shells, in a pot of cold water with the juice of one lime and a heaping tablespoon of kosher salt and turned on the heat. While the water was heating I got a bowl of ice water ready. Using an instant read thermometer, I checked the temperature of the water in the pot. When it reached 170° I removed the shrimp from the water and put them in the ice water to cool quickly.  The shrimp were cooked perfectly!

The recipe is adapted from one by Rozanne Gold in Cooking 1-2-3. I find the most difficult thing about the recipe is getting the shrimp to look beautiful and not messy. Rozanne suggests stuffing the shrimp using a pastry bag. I don’t have one, but I think that may be the secret to creating a more neatly-stuffed appetizer.

Do give Wasabi Shrimp a try, even if you don’t have a pastry bag. I think you’ll agree that it’s a perfect recipe for the holiday party season.

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Wasabi Shrimp

(Adapted from a Rozanne Gold recipe in Cooking 1-2-3)

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(print the recipe)

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2 pounds cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons wasabi powder

2 tablespoons water

¼ teaspoon salt (I used sea salt.)

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1. In a small bowl, mix the wasabi powder with the water to form a paste.
2. Put the cream cheese, wasabi paste, and salt in the bowl of a small food processor. Process until well blended.
3. Cut a slit in the back of each shrimp, cutting almost all the way through.
4. Use a small spoon or a pastry bag to stuff each shrimp with some of the wasabi cream cheese.
5. Refrigerate until serving time.

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