Crispy Sesame Rice & Sweet Heat Shrimp
with Roasted Seaweed, Jalapeño, Creamy Chili Guac & Spicy Mayo
- Shellfish
- Sesame
- Eggs
These crispy rice squares topped with sweet-spicy shrimp look like they came out of a restaurant! You’ll start by shaping and frying squares of seaweed-infused rice til they're crisp and golden brown. Top the rice with "sweet heat" shrimp tossed in spicy mayo and guacamole, then garnish with sesame seeds and scallions and dig right in.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon
Cornstarch
5 teaspoon
Rice Wine Vinegar
1 ounce
Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
10 ounce
Shrimp
(Contains: Shellfish)
1 unit
Jalapeño
2 tablespoon
Sesame Seeds
(Contains: Sesame)
4 tablespoon
Mayonnaise
(Contains: Eggs)
2 unit
Scallions
4 tablespoon
Guacamole
1.5 cup
Jasmine Rice
2 teaspoon
Sriracha
½ unit
Roasted Seaweed Sheets
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
5 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
1 unit
Cooking Spray
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
-
Wash and dry produce.
-
Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Thinly slice jalapeño into rounds, removing ribs and seeds for less heat.
-
Heat a drizzle of oil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add scallion whites; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in rice, half the sesame seeds, 1½ cups water (3 cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until tender, 15-18 minutes.
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Keep covered off heat until ready to use in Step 3.
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While rice cooks, in a small bowl, whisk together guacamole, half the mayonnaise, and half the Sriracha. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reserve 1 TBSP creamy chili guac (2 TBSP for 4 servings) in a medium bowl (set remaining creamy chili guac aside for serving).
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Add sweet Thai chili sauce to bowl with reserved creamy chili guac. Whisk to combine; set aside.
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In a separate small bowl, whisk together remaining mayonnaise and remaining Sriracha. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
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Once rice is done, crumble half the roasted seaweed sheets into pot. (Reserve remaining sheets for another use!) Using a wooden spoon, stir until rice begins to stick together, 1 minute. Add vinegar, cornstarch, and 1 tsp sugar (2 tsp for 4); stir until well combined.
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Line an 8-by-8-inch baking dish (9-by-13-inch baking dish for 4) with plastic wrap. (TIP: Leave a little plastic wrap hanging over the sides of the dish so the rice is easier to remove in Step 5.) Coat with nonstick cooking spray.
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Using the back of a spoon, press rice mixture into prepared baking dish in an even layer. (TIP: Lightly coat surface of rice with nonstick cooking spray to help prevent it from sticking to the spoon.) Transfer to freezer until completely cooled, at least 15 minutes (but no longer than 30 minutes).
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Rinse shrimp* under cold water, then pat dry with paper towels.
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Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are opaque and cooked through, 4-6 minutes.
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Transfer shrimp to medium bowl with sweet Thai chili guac. Stir to coat. Cover to keep warm.
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Using plastic wrap overhang, carefully lift rice mixture out of baking dish and transfer to a cutting board (discard plastic wrap). Cut into four equal squares (eight squares for 4 servings).
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Heat a large drizzle of oil in a second large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add rice squares; cook until browned and crispy, 3-4 minutes per side (you may need to cook in batches). Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
-
Divide crispy rice squares between plates. Spread each with
remaining creamy chili guac, then top evenly with jalapeño and sweet heat shrimp. TIP: If desired, use less jalapeño to tame the heat. -
Garnish with scallion greens and remaining sesame seeds. Serve with spicy mayo on the side for dipping.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The sauces and shrimp were widely praised as bold and restaurant-quality, though some found the overall dish too sweet or one-note 🍤.
- Ease of prep: This is a genuinely time-consuming recipe — many customers noted it took 60–90 minutes and involved more steps than expected.
- Suggestions: Use less seaweed than the recipe calls for, or skip it entirely; many found it overwhelmingly fishy and overpowering. A few suggested refrigerating the rice overnight or using sushi rice to help the squares hold together better.
- Rice cakes: The rice squares fell apart for many customers — freezing longer than 20 minutes and handling them gently when frying helped. Some skipped the frying and served it as a bowl instead, which worked well.
- Leftovers: One reviewer noted the seaweed flavor intensified significantly the next day, making leftovers much fishier than the freshly made dish.
Reviews from our home cooks
Omg!!! This is a bit more complicated recipe, but completely worth it! Think sushi rolls (cooked shrimp for those who have an aversion to raw fish) made at home! Very easy to follow and delicious. This should be a regular in the rotation! 10/10 would make again!!!
I freaking love seafood and sushi so to find a recipe that has both of the two things that I love to eat great easy recipe to follow the taste 10 out of 10. I'm definitely gonna make this on a larger skill because my children also love sushi and crispy rice Another purchase for sure!
We really enjoyed this recipe! It was a fair bit of work but it was really nice in the end and we appreciated how different it was from the usual meals we get in boxed. The only thing we found was that in the end, it tasted a little better with a bit of soy sauce for dipping, as despite all the flavors involved, the end product still felt like it was missing a little something to tie it all together.
Nice for something different. These are the kinds of recipes I look for to expand my cooking skills and variety. I made it a 2nd time for my dad and he loved it.
I enjoyed the complexity of this meal. I learned a new method for cooking rice. It did take a long time. I would like to see something similar to this again, possibly a shrimp fried rice dish. It might be easier and faster.
Delicious, I feel the jalapeños could use a quick pickle recipe to cut the richness of the sauces.
Brilliant! Amazing flavorful dish! Not easy to make, but the instructions were well written
This is by far my favorite meal I've ever had from HelloFresh! This taste like real sushi and it was so good. I would buy it again and again and again.
I loved the idea of it, but even after letting the rice cool, 15 minutes in the freezer didn't help much. The rice blocks kept coming apart and poping in the oil. So i struggled. It was delicious but the prep definitely needs work. Maybe a few hours in the freezer would have been better.
Totally new type of foods for us and we really loved it! Expanding our pallets!
