Fried Shrimp Cake (and Others) @ Pandan Perdana

Fried shrimp cake or prawn fritter, otherwise more commonly known by their local name as cucur udang, is one of my favourite fried things to eat.  Not something for the faint-hearted or health conscious since it's deep-fried...and can (or will) be oily (it comes with the territory)! ;)

You'd usually find this fritter in a round, flat, disc-shaped like...and that's because the batter is spooned onto a round ladle before being submerged in hot oil to deep-fry.  Well, at least, that's how the Chinese hawkers (selling this) do it.

But the Malay hawkers do it differently though.  Theirs are normally ball-shaped like or randomly shaped for want of a better word.  Their fritter is filled with chopped onions, carrot, spring onions, chillies and prawns (some recipes may include corn kernels and/or beansprouts).

They also do a version with ikan bilis or dried anchovies (cucur ikan bilis) or just onions (cucur bawang). They can be eaten with either a chilli sauce or kuah kacang (peanut sauce).  The Chinese version is usually accompanied by chilli sauce only.

As I've mentioned earlier, the Chinese version of fried shrimp cake that I've encountered thus far has always been disc-shaped but I recently came across this Chinese-style Fried Shrimp Cake @ Pandan Perdana in a shape that's not common at all (one I've not seen before).  The first time I bought this Fried Shrimp Cake @ RM2.70, I asked for it not to be cut so that I can show you the shape and what it looks like.

Shape aside, they were the best fried shrimp cake I've had so far! ^o^  These utterly delicious shrimp cakes, I believe, are filled with just shrimps (with shells on and heads included), Chinese chives and onions.  I liked that they were generous with the small shrimps (at least 4 - 5 in one fritter) which elevated its flavour.

They were so incredibly crispy all round but still with a bit of softness from the batter.  The texture was not dense at all as opposed to some fried shrimp cakes I've eaten in the past (case in point...the first photo).

Although they have a stall operating from inside Restoran OK (a corner coffee shop behind Hong Leong Bank), they choose to set up a roadside stall (in the vicinity of Pandan Perdana's wet market).  A man does the frying in the coffee shop while a lady will do the selling from the roadside stall (not sure if this is a husband & wife team).

I was excited when a fresh tray of the ready-fried shrimp cakes came out but they were gone in a jiffy as soon as they landed on her table (she pack, pack, pack before I could take a photo to show you so that you can drool over a tray full of them).

Besides shrimp cakes, they also sell a version with just vegetables.  The Vegetable Fritter @ RM1.70 is made with just loads of garlic chives and onions.  Essentially the same recipe minus the shrimps.

I don't know how they do the batter but it's so unbelievably crunchy, it's stark raving bonkers!  Not only were the fritters crispy, mind you, they stayed relatively crunchy some 3 hours later.  I've never had shrimp (or vegetable) fritters this crunchy before! ^.^

Not only were they super crispy, they were fluffy to eat too.  The taste was heightened by the very fragrant, mildly garlicky taste of Chinese chives and you get that sweetness from the onions too....and they're not stingy with both.  The accompanying chilli paste is good too but when the fritters are already so good, you don't really need it.

Though the shrimp and vegetable fritters are their no. 1 best sellers, they also do a very decent Fried Yam Puff (or Wu Kok) @ RM2.20.  Can you see just how light, thin, airy and crisp the outside batter is?

The minced pork filling was very tasty too and the yam paste totally soft with a remarkably crispy exterior (which you have to eat immediately). They were so well done it would put some dim sum sellers to shame.

Not so successful though was their Fried Radish/Carrot Cake (or lor bak go) @ RM1.  You can safely give this a miss.

It had more flour than the taste of radish thereby making the texture of the radish cake rather dense.  I've had loads better fried radish cake elsewhere (especially at dim sum restaurants).

But you probably won't want to miss their Fried Dumpling (or fried sui kow) @ RM1.30 a piece.  At least this batch of fried dumplings didn't fly off the shelves as soon as they came out and I was still able to snap a photo with an almost full tray. ;P

These adequately-filled dumplings were fried to perfection (noticed those small puffy spots on the skin?.....those are pops of crispiness!).  I think I detected some chopped yin sai (Chinese coriander) in the filling too coz it smelled so fragrant.  It's so yummy you won't be able to stop at one.

The Fried Popiah @ RM2, filled with shredded jicama and carrots, didn't leave much of an impression as they weren't particularly outstanding.  The crispy popiah skin also didn't stay crispy for very long.

Besides these six fried stuff I tried, ham sui kok (RM2.20) or literally translated as salt water ball (a salty-sweet fried glutinous rice dumpling filled with pork, vegetables and mushrooms) and fried sesame balls (RM1) round up their menu.  Note that this price list was taken in May this year (not sure if the prices have changed since).  Good news is that they're now on ShopeeFood (with delivery prices of RM4.10, RM2.60, RM3.30, RM3.30, RM2.90, RM1.80, RM1.80 & RM2.20 in comparison to the price list above).  If the price list above is still current, then the delivery prices are rather steep (at least 50% higher).

My Personal Opinion

Certainly a heart-stopping, calorie-laden, guilty-pleasure snack that one shouldn't be having too often.  I'd go for the prawn fritters first followed by the yam puff and fried dumpling (in that particular order)....hehe! ;) The vegetable fritter is good too if you want an all-vege fritter but I thought the addition of prawns just gave the fritter the edge.

Please note that as this is a stall by the roadside (near the wet market), they're only open in the mornings every day (from 7 - 11am) although they operate from a physical stall inside Restoran OK (where the frying takes place).

It's an irresistible tea-time snack that's also great with a cup of coffee for breakfast.  Every bite (or should I say, calorie) is worth savouring (and I've been back for them obviously).  What can I say....really excellent fritters! ^o^

Fried Shrimp Cake @ Restoran OK

2 - 4 Jalan Perdana 4/6

Pandan Perdana

55300 Kuala Lumpur