Baked cheese shrimp comes out with every shrimp split open along the back like a butterfly and covered in a puffed golden cheese sauce. The shrimp meat is sweet, the sauce is rich and smells of fried garlic. The hardest part is knowing when to pull the tray out, since a few minutes too long shrinks the meat and turns it mealy.
Blending the sauce completely smooth before spreading it is the key move, because only a smooth sauce puffs evenly in the oven. The common mistake is leaving the shrimp damp, so the sauce slides out of the groove and runs down onto the tray.
This batch weighs about 1.1kg, at roughly 136 calories per 100g.
Method
Choose large shrimp such as black tiger prawns, sea prawns or freshwater prawns to make up 700g. Cut along the head and back with scissors, pull out the black vein, press gently so the body opens like a butterfly, rinse clean and pat completely dry.
Put 5 soft cheese wedges, 4 tablespoons unsweetened oat milk, 2 chicken egg yolks, 2 tablespoons Lean Mayo, 2 tablespoons of the kOBE Monk Fruit Blend mixed with oat milk at 47 parts blend to 53 parts milk, and 1 tablespoon annatto oil into a blender, then blend to a thick smooth sauce.
Stir 1 tablespoon fried garlic through the sauce.
Spoon the sauce into the opened groove along each shrimp back and lay them on a tray.
Heat the oven to 200 degrees C for 10 minutes, then bake the shrimp on the upper rack for 8 to 10 minutes until the sauce puffs, browns and lightly chars on top. Without an oven, an air fryer or a charcoal grill works.
Tips
Pat the shrimp bodies completely dry before spreading, so the sauce grips inside the groove along the back.
Shrimp tend to curl once the back is split, so a small skewer run through the body holds them straight.
Baking the shrimp for a few minutes before the sauce goes on keeps the sauce from running down onto the tray.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend is a powder, so mix it with oat milk at 47 parts blend to 53 parts milk before it goes into the blender for an easier blend.
A little extra shredded mozzarella added during baking gives those eye catching cheese pulls.
Need the monk fruit sugar or Lean Mayo?
These two are what kOBE cooks with in the recipe above. See the product page or send us a message.