Uyghur manti and super crunchy shrimp
plus wine from a cult favorite producer I can't get enough of
Where I’m Eating
Cafe Kashkar: 1141 Brighton Beach Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235
I am a restaurant repeater.
I’ve long felt a lot of pressure, as a result of what I do for a living, to experience the widest variety of restaurants physically possible. In NYC, dining out and being aware of all the new hot spots is a cultural pastime even if you’re *not* in the food industry. I’m so frequently impressed by friends of mine who are like this: if a new spot opened just last week, they’ve already been there. They can recommend a few dishes and they can compare it to the hot spot that opened the week prior. They can tell you whether Via Carota or I Sodi is worth the wait, or whether the lasagna at Don Angie is worth the $65 price tag. They can also compare the aforementioned lasagna to the version at Emilio’s Ballato and every other red sauce joint in the city. They just…know.
It might surprise you to hear that I definitely do NOT know - that instead of checking out every new hot spot (of which there are plenty, and many make it to my “must try eventually” list) - I find much more comfort in restaurant-repeating. I love finding MY spots and going there all the time. I love knowing what I’m going to order, what it’s going to taste like, and recognizing the decor. I guess I love feeling like I’m sitting in a good friend’s dining room - a place where I’m welcome and where I know what to expect. I read once that really anxious people like to rewatch shows many times because the predictability of knowing what happens next calms them and that’s how I’ve come to feel about my restaurant life. It’s not that novelty doesn’t excite me - it’s that the comfort of knowing and feeling at home supersedes the excitement of that novelty.
That said, this week’s Dumpling Diaries takes place in Cafe Kashkar - a Uyghur restaurant in Brighton Beach that I’ve been to at least a dozen times. The central Asian fare is both familiar to my childhood (the Russian aspects of it, that is) and new - spicier and more flavorful than most of the food I grew up with. The manti, which are giant minced lamb & onion dumplings, are a must-order. The funk of the lamb is offset by the sweetness of the onion and the richness of the sour cream they come served with. Check out my video here.
What I’m Cooking
Panko-Fried Shrimp & Furikake Waffles with Miso Honey Butter
Well, we’ve made it to the last recipe in the Shrimp Series! But don’t fret - my shrimp-loving soul will absolutely be finding other ways to work shrimp into various recipes. This week’s dish is my Japanese-ish take on fried chicken and waffles: panko-fried shrimp with a furikake waffle and miso honey butter! It’s sweet (but not too sweet, have you met me??), savory (we love salt over here) and completely satisfying.
WHAT YOU NEED
Furikake waffles:
1 cup flour
1 cup tapioca starch (you can omit and use regular flour but this makes the waffle more chewy!)
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3 tbsp melted butter (+ more for brushing onto waffle iron)
¼ cup furikake
2 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
1 cup milk
½ cup ricotta
Miso honey butter:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp miso
1 tsp honey
Panko shrimp:
1 lb shrimp
1 cup panko
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
WHAT YOU DO
Whisk together flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, sugar, and furikake to a mixing bowl.
In another bowl, combine wet ingredients: milk, ricotta, eggs and melted butter. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Cook a small amount of batter in a skillet (or in the waffle iron) to check for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
Meanwhile, make the miso honey butter: combine room temp butter, miso and honey. Taste and adjust - I like a hefty amount of miso!
Add flour and panko crumbs to two separate bowls. Season the flour with sugar and salt. Whisk together eggs and milk in a third bowl.
Prepare a work-station for frying: if you have a wire rack to drain the cooked shrimp, use that but otherwise prep a sheet pan with paper towel for the cooked shrimp.
Heat enough neutral oil in a saucepan to deep fry the shrimp - at least 2 cups. Test the heat by sprinkling some flour or panko into the oil - if it sizzles, the oil is ready.
Dip a shrimp into the flour bowl, making sure the flour adheres to the shrimp. Transfer the shrimp to the egg/milk mixture and then into the panko bread crumbs, making sure the crumbs fully cover the shrimp. Add the shrimp to the hot oil and fry for a couple minutes until golden brown. You can fry a few shrimp at a time - just make sure not to over-crowd them. Let the cooked shrimp cool on a wire rack or paper towel-lined sheet pan.
Heat your waffle iron and brush with melted butter. Add a few tablespoons of batter to the iron and cook until the waffle reaches your desired level of golden-brown. Repeat until batter is finished or you’ve made as many waffles as you’re gonna eat!
Top the waffle with a dollop of miso honey butter and fried shrimp. Sprinkle with more furikake if you’d like.
What I’m Drinking
I’ve been glugging The Flood by Swick Wines. It’s peachy and floral and just…easy. It made for the perfect accompaniment to the shrimp scampi I made last night as part of my Substack paid subscriber cook-a-long! Swick wines are a cult favorite so grab yourself a bottle before it inevitably sells out. I get mine at my local shop, Leisir Wine.
Hello from a Tibetan fan! I love your content, recipes, and emphasis on the immigrant and refugee experience. ❤️ I really appreciated your highlight on the human rights abuses being faced by the Uyghurs right now, and it would mean a lot to me and to the Tibetan community if you could similarly highlight the ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet when you speak so wonderfully of your appreciation for momos etc!! The Tibet situation is just the Uyghur situation a few decades down the line 😔
Thanks for all you do!!! 👏 🫶🫶