Bang Bang Shrimp Sliders

I think bang bang shrimp is synonymous with a seafood restaurant called Bone Fish Grill. I’ve never been personally, but I have tried plenty of copycat recipes before. It’s delicious. If you have no idea of what bang bang shrimp is, it’s shrimp tossed in cornstarch, fried until crispy and then tossed in a sauce made of mayo, thai sweet chili sauce, hot sauce and scallions. Since I love this dish so much, I thought I’d give it a slight twist and turn it into these Bang Bang Shrimp Sliders. I did write a slider cookbook after all and who would I be if not an eternal slider enthusiast? The slider route is definitely the way to go.

In a food processor, combine the melted butter, half of the shrimp and the egg and give it about 10 to 12 pulses until chopped up, but slightly coarse. 

Transfer to a large bowl and add in the remaining shrimp, breadcrumbs, scallions, garlic, ginger, sriracha and soy sauce.

**Note: The soy sauce will give it a bit of saltiness, but I like to add a pinch more at this stage. It depends on you. If you’re sensitive to salt, then you can just relay on the soy sauce to bring that flavor in.**

Mix until just combined. Divide and shape into 8 patties and place on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.

Spread the cornstarch onto a shallow dish. Dredge each shrimp patty in the cornstarch, shaking off the excess, and making sure they’re evenly coated. 

Fill a frying pan with about 2-inches of oil and set over moderate heat. Once hot, carefully add in 4 of the shrimp patties. Fry until golden brown on both sides, flipping over halfway through, and fully cooked, about 2 to 4 minutes, per side, depending on how thick they are. Drain and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside. Continue frying the remaining patties.

To make the sauce, in a medium bowl, whisk together the mayo, sweet chili sauce and sriracha until smooth. Set aside.

**Note: You can add more or less sriracha, depending on how spicy you like things. The chili sauce is sweet and so I like to add a bit more sriracha to balance out the flavor of sweet and spicy.**

To assemble the sliders, split open the buns and top each bottom bun with sauce and a lettuce leaf. Place a fried shrimp patty on top and spoon more of the sauce on. Sprinkle with scallions and place the top bun on.

These are best eaten right away as you want that shrimp patty to be warm and crispy. I wouldn’t recommend frying them ahead of time because even when you reheat them, they won’t get crispy again. If you want to plan ahead, you can shape them ahead of time and keep the patties in the fridge. Then just dredge and fry when ready to eat.

The sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance, and any leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge and used for a number of other dishes. It’s a great dipping sauce for veggies as well!

These would be great as an appetizer for parties, but of course they’d make a great dinner. I’d allot about 2 sliders per person, if you do go the dinner route. I hope you love them! Let me know what you think below and as always, thank you so much for following along and reading.