Shrimp croquettes

The shrimp croquette is thought to have originated in the Yser trenches during the First World War, around 1915-1916. Our soldiers would have eaten grey shrimp (abundant at the time, fished from the seaside), mixed with a paste to preserve them better.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that this speciality appeared on restaurant menus. First on the coast, at the “Saint James” restaurant in Ostend, then in Brussels, at restaurants such as “François” and “Aux Armes de Bruxelles”.
Now a signature dish in our brasseries, shrimp croquettes can be enjoyed as a starter or a main course, often served with lemon and fried parsley.

Ingredients (serves 4)

200 g shrimp shells
750 ml whole milk
80 g butter
135 g flour
3 sheets gelatine (2 g each)
500 g North Sea grey shrimps
Salt and pepper
Nutmeg

Pour la liaison :

- 50 ml de crème
- 2 jaunes d’œufs Columbus

Pour la panure :

- - 6 cuillers à soupe de farine
  - 2 jaunes d’œufs Columbus
  - 4 cuillers à soupe de chapelure

Pour la garniture :

- - 1 citron
  - Persil

Preparation

The day before

Soak the shrimp shells and heads in the milk over a low heat for 20 minutes. Then drain the shells and shrimp heads from the milk, reserving the milk.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir to form a roux. Leave to dry a little. Gradually add the milk to the roux, continuing to whisk well to obtain a thick béchamel sauce. Bring the sauce to the boil, lower the heat and season with pepper, salt and nutmeg.
Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft. Squeeze out the water and stir into the hot béchamel sauce until completely dissolved.
Add the peeled grey shrimps to the béchamel sauce and stir briefly. Grease a square baking dish with butter.
For the binding, whisk the egg yolks into the cream and immediately add to the béchamel sauce, mixing well. Simmer for a moment and pour the mixture into the square baking dish, spreading to a thickness of about 1.5 cm.
Leave overnight in the fridge to harden.

On the day itself

Prepare everything you need for the breading: one plate with the flour, another plate with the beaten egg yolks and a third plate with the breadcrumbs.
Cut the filling into 8 roughly equal rectangular pieces, in the shape of croquettes. Roll the croquettes one by one in the flour and shake off the excess flour.
Then roll in the egg yolks, making sure there are no uncovered pieces left. Then place the croquettes on the plate with the breadcrumbs and shake the plate well, again making sure that the croquettes are completely covered.
Heat the frying fat to 180°C and fry the crispy shrimp croquettes for about 4 minutes, draining them on paper towels.
Finely chop the curly parsley and fry it too. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt.
Serve the croquettes with a wedge of lemon, some fried parsley and a slice of bread.

Columbus tip

Choose grey shrimps caught by Belgian inshore fishermen because, unlike their foreign competitors, they never treat the shrimps on board with preservatives. The shrimps are 100% natural and much tastier.

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