Shrimp Paste on Lemongrass Skewers Recipes

This is a famous appetizer known as Choa Tom in Vietnam. Shrimp is minced into a smooth paste and coated around a sugarcane but since I can't find fresh sugarcane here I just used Lemongrass. It is better to simply grill it and eat it by itself, straight from the hot grill and enjoying every single bite of it. It will be great dish for a barbecue spread.

Ingredients :

1 pound of fresh shrimp - peeled and deveined
2 stalk of spring onions - finely chopped
a small bunch of cilantro - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
1 small red chilli - finely chopped
1 egg
1 tbsp of cornstarch
1 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
8 pieces of lemongrass
1) Put shrimp in a food processor and pulse into a smooth paste. Remove into a mixing bowl.
2) Add in all the rest of the ingredients except the lemongrass and mix well. Set aside in the fridge for an hour.
3) Divide the paste into 8 equal portions and wet your hand with some water. Take a piece of lemongrass in your hand and mould a portion of the paste around the top part of the lemongrass. Press gently until the edges are sealed.
4) Place the skewer on an oiled tray, while you finish making the rest of the skewers.
5) Grill the skewers over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, turning them frequently until they are nicely browned all over. Serve immediately while its still hot.

Note: Make sure you wet your hand with some water before you mould the paste if not it will stick all over your hand. Alternatively you can cook the skewers under a broiler. You can replace the lemongrass with sugarcane for this dish.