Anping Shrimp Roll

The shrimp roll is the signature snack of Anping, the old harbour district of Tainan, where it emerged from the abundance of shrimp and fish paste in the coastal fishing economy. The dish is closely related to the tempura-like tian bu la and to the fish-paste traditions of southern Taiwan, but its specific form, a roll of shrimp and pork paste bound with fish paste and wrapped in pig caul fat or, more commonly now, tofu skin, then deep-fried until golden and crisp, is distinctively Anping. The pork paste, often with fat for juiciness, the whole shrimp folded in for texture, and the fish paste binding it all, are wrapped tightly and fried, the caul fat melting away to leave a crisp savoury casing, the tofu-skin version a cleaner vegetarian-friendly alternative. Eaten hot with a sweet-savoury sauce and pickled ginger, the shrimp roll is sold from Anping's old street stalls and has spread across Tainan's night markets. The Zhou family shrimp roll shop in Anping, trading for generations, is the benchmark.

A long, golden, shatteringly crisp roll breaking open to a hot, bouncy, shrimpy and porky paste with whole shrimp bites inside, dipped in a sweet-savoury sauce with a sharp pickled-ginger palate-cleanser. Crisp, juicy, deeply savoury.

The shrimp roll is built on a fish-paste-bound filling wrapped and fried. A mixture of minced fatty pork, whole or roughly chopped shrimp, and fish paste, the last providing the binding elasticity, is seasoned with salt, sugar, white pepper, five-spice and fried shallots, and beaten until the proteins develop and the paste becomes sticky and bouncy. The paste is rolled into a cylinder in a sheet of pig caul fat or, more commonly, tofu skin, wrapped tightly to a long thin roll, and deep-fried at around 175 degrees C until the casing is deep golden and shatteringly crisp, the inside cooked through but still juicy and bouncy. The caul fat, if used, melts almost entirely into the filling, basting it from within, while the tofu skin fries to a clean, bubbly crisp. The roll is sliced into pieces and served hot with a sweet-savoury sauce, similar to the tian bu la sauce, and pickled ginger to cut the richness. The bouncy, elastic texture of the fish-paste-bound filling, distinct from a meatball, is the southern-Taiwanese fish-paste technique.