Portuguese Shrimp Croquettes – Rissóis de Camarão

Another super popular Portuguese food!

These shrimp croquettes or shrimp turnovers are called rissóis de camarão in Portuguese.

This popular Portuguese pastry can be found in most Portuguese bakeries in North America. I’m not sure if this is the case in Portugal, but you can’t miss them here.

A little North…

We live north of Toronto. Although we have discovered a few Portuguese bakeries in our region, the majority of Portuguese bakeries, in the Greater Toronto Area, are in Toronto’s downtown core or in Mississauga, another large city just west of Toronto.

We love stopping at one of the many Portuguese bakeries when we visit Toronto or Mississauga. We normally pickup buns, sweet bread, a fresh cheese, custard tarts… and always…. some of these rissóis de camarão.

Was this complicated to make?

This recipe isn’t complex at all. I’ve even reduced some of the common steps for the dough–making it easier. But I also don’t want to mislead anyone. Although not complex, there was a fair bit of manual labour involved.

It’s not a recipe you can whip up in a half hour. I also recommend that you make this a team effort–an extra set of hands can come in handy for some of the steps.

Better than the bakery?

We were extremely happy with the final results. Dare I say…. these croquettes are very close to… but even better than the ones we’ve enjoyed for years from the bakeries. Let’s just say… I didn’t skimp on the shrimp. That’s one of the beauties of making these from scratch at home. Shrimp in every bite!

You’ve got to give this recipe a try! Go on… impress your friends (and even your Portuguese mother-in-law). Make someone smile with these delicious home-made shrimp croquettes, and always eat well, friends.

Print Recipe

Portuguese Shrimp Croquettes – Rissóis de Camarão

These delicious Portuguese morsels of savoury pastry are full of shrimp and flavour. Call them an appetizer… or a main course… make them now!

Prep Time45 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time1 hr 30 mins

Course: Appetizer, Main

Cuisine: Portuguese

Servings: 30 pieces

Ingredients

Dough:

• 2 1/3 cups water
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp course sea salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour

filling:

• 3 cups of water to cook the shrimp
• 1 1/2 lbs or 680 g raw black tiger shrimp (31-40). We used easy peel, deveined and shell-on (frozen is fine)
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 medium cooking union finely diced
• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk we used 2%
• 1 1/2 cups of the reserved shrimp cooking water
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 cup parsley chopped

For frying:

• 3 large eggs beaten and poured into a wide rimmed bowl
• 2 cups plain bread crumbs poured into a wide rimmed bowl
• Vegetable or canola oil for deep frying

Instructions

Process for the dough:

• Bring the (from the dough ingredients) water, butter, lemon zest and sea salt to a boil in a medium pot.
• While the water is coming to a boil, add the flour to a stand mixer bowl.
• Once the liquid starts boiling, pour the liquid over the flour in the stand mixer bowl (caution… it’s hot!).
• Use the dough hook to knead the dough on low for about 3 minutes or until the dough pulls off the sides of the bowl.
• Set aside and let cool.

Process for the filling:

• In a medium to large pot, bring 3 cups of water and 2 tsp of salt to a light boil.
• Add the shrimp.
• If you started with frozen shrimp, use a spoon or fork to separate them as they start to heat up.
• Once they turn orange, they’re just about ready, let them cook another 2 or 3 minutes.
• Remove the shrimp from the water to let cool for about 5 minutes. Strain and reserve the shrimp water.
• Peel the shrimp and discard the shells.
• Chop the shrimp into two or three pieces each.
• Heat a large frying pan between medium and medium high.
• Add the butter and diced onion.
• Sauté the onion until translucent.
• Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon and continue mixing for about 2 minutes. The butter will start to lump up with the flour.
• Reduce the heat to medium.
• Add the milk, reserved shrimp water, tomato paste, lemon juice, salt and white pepper.
• Mix well to form a thick paste. Add a touch more water if it’s too thick.
• Mix in the shrimp and parsley and mix well.
• Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Putting it all together:

• Lightly flour your counter surface and place the dough on it.
• Lightly flour the top of the dough as well as a rolling pin.
• Start rolling out one end of the dough until you have a thin (but not see-through) layer of dough.
  
• Place 1 full tbsp of the shrimp mix on the flat dough.
  
• Fold one end of the dough over the shrimp mix, so that the mix is up against the fold.
  
• press the dough lightly, going around the shrimp mix.
• Using a large drinking glass (or cutter), place the glass top over the dough and shrimp mix, leaving an edge of the glass slightly behind the fold in the dough. The dough left under the glass should resemble a half moon.
  
• Press the glass to cut the dough.
  
• Lightly press the dough edge all around the round part of the half moon to make sure it’s sealed.
  
• Dip the croquette in the beaten egg.
  
• Place the wet croquette on the bread crumps and turn it over a couple of times to coat it all evenly.
  
• Set aside on a large plate and repeat the last few steps until all the croquettes are all formed and coated.
• Using a deep fryer (or other deep cooking vessel like a dutch oven), heat the oil to between 350 and 360 ºF.
• Carefully place a few croquettes in the hot oil (careful not to overcrowd them) and fry them for about 2.5 minutes or until the croquettes are a nice light golden colour.
• Remove the cooked croquettes and place them on a large paper towel lined plate to help drain the excess oil.
• Repeat the last two steps until all the croquettes are cooked.
• Serve croquettes with a side of rice as a main dish, or serve them as appetizers. Enjoy!

Notes

• Ideally, have a second person help with the egg and breadcrumb steps.
• Once the croquettes are coated in the breadcrumbs, you can also place them in a freezer bag (in one layer and not touching) and freeze them for future use.