Ukoy or Okoy?

Whatever it is doesn't really matter. I just love this vegetable fritter made from julienned chayote, carrots, sweet potatoes, bean sprouts and shrimp and held together by a batter which consists of all purpose flour, cornstarch (which gives the crunch), salt and pepper, annato and shrimp broth. The dipping sauce which is palm vinegar spiced with crushed garlic and ground pepper completes the cast. Someone will get jealous when she sees this. She calls these bad boys bird's nests and loves them.

Hey Jenn, they're so easy to make :-)


The batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup annatto water
1 1/2 cups shrimp broth
1 egg, well beaten
cooking oil

The topping:
2 cups bean sprouts
1 cup chopped green onion
1/2 lb large shrimp, cleaned
1 cup chayote
1 cup carrots
1 cup sweet potatoes

Directions:
1. Sift the apf, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
2. Blend in the annatto water, broth and egg. Annato water is used for color.
You may use a little turmeric powder to give it a yellow color
3. Beat until smooth.
4. Heat vegetable or canola oil in medium high heat for deep-frying.
5. Arrange a bed of vegetables in a saucer.
6. Top with shrimps.
7. Add a couple of tablespoons of batter on top
8. Slide the mixture carefully into the hot oil.
9. Fry until crisp and brown on both sides.
10. Drain
11. Serve with a vinegar with crushed garlic for dipping seasoned with salt and pepper.

Notes: I kind of got tired assembling each fritter in a saucer so I just mixed the batter and the vegetables and just spooned/dropped them straight to the cooking oil.
Notice the picture where I was scooping oil on top of the fritters because I didn't really deep fried them. And I forgot to take pictures of my vegetables prior to mixing :-)