Vietnamese Braised Shrimp In Roe (Tôm Kho Tàu)
This quick and easy shrimp dish is full of flavor, thanks to the use of the shrimp head roe as the base of the sauce.

- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 lb shrimp (heads on)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 shallot (minced)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp Pantai shrimp paste in soya bean oil
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 scallion (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Use kitchen shears to trim the legs and whiskers off of the shrimp. Devein them, and use your hands to take the heads off and scoop the orange roe from inside the head into a separate bowl.
- 2
Add fish sauce, half of the minced garlic and shallot, salt, pepper and Pantai shrimp paste to your shrimp and mix together until everything is well incorporated. Let the shrimp marinate for 15 minutes.
- 3
Heat the cooking oil on medium heat in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the leftover minced garlic and shallot and cook until browned, about 5 min.
- 4
Add the marinated shrimp and stir until the shrimp is halfway cooked. The shrimp should be starting to turn orange, but will still be gray and translucent in some parts, about 5 min.
- 5
Add the reserved shrimp roe from inside of the shrimp heads to the pan.
- 6
Continue to cook the shrimp until they are completely orange and no longer translucent, about 5 more min.