Praise be my mum's Filipino shrimp sandwich

While my classmates ate chicken sandwiches in school, I dug into my mum's special shrimp sandwich.

Mum's shrimp sandwich, a simple sandwich with lots of love. Source: Maida Pineda

While others wax sentimental about their mums' chicken sandwiches, I have fond memories of my mum's shrimp (prawn) sandwich.

As a little girl, I could not understand why people liked sandwiches with shredded boiled chicken and mayo, and don't get me started with boiled chicken skin.

Meanwhile, my mum's shrimp sandwich included steamed or boiled shrimp that was meticulously peeled, and then mixed with mayo, pickle relish, salt and pepper. Mum liked to chill the filling to let it set and to allow the flavours to come together nicely.

The shrimp sandwich is one of simplicity. Source: Maida Pineda

Our family is Catholic so we ate more shrimp during Lent when we abstained from meat on Fridays. But in my heart, it was welcome all year round. 

This sandwich is both special and simple. Shrimps are not exactly cheap but people in the Philippines are blessed with an abundance of seafood. People in the Philippines mostly get fresh shrimp and often they're still alive.

My mum believed her family deserved nothing but the best. This meant giving us the freshest shrimps, steamed, peeled and served as a loving sandwich.

After buying fresh shrimp from the local market, my mum would steam them in simmering water. When their skin turned bright orange, we'd scoop them out.

We often ate them for lunch or dinner, relishing their natural, sweet taste. Any leftover shrimp would be laboriously peeled by mum. She would put them aside in a sealed glass container to make shrimp sandwiches for our school lunches. 

As an adult, I realise now that those were not leftovers. My mum bought enough for a meal and school lunch sandwiches for her hungry kids. When there was not enough shrimp, she bulked the mixture out with hard-boiled eggs to make sure all five of us (four actually, one brother was allergic to shrimps) could have a shrimp sandwich.

I recently made my mum's shrimp sandwich here in Australia. I didn't buy live shrimp. I happily settled on using peeled ones from the supermarket. After cooking them, I let them cool and added the rest of the ingredients.

Since I couldn't find pickle relish in my local supermarket, I chopped sweet pickles instead. After I mixed the ingredients, I put them between two slices of plain white bread; nothing fancy.

Shrimps are blended with mayo and pickles. Source: Maida Pineda

The sun was shining on me as I bit into my shrimp sandwich. It immediately reminded me of my childhood. Or, more accurately, it reminded me of how my mum was a little extra.

I don't know anyone else who makes shrimp sandwiches for her kids. Yesterday, I asked my mum why she made shrimp sandwiches and what was her inspiration. She couldn't remember, but to me it was clear. My mum believed her family deserved nothing but the best. This meant giving us the freshest shrimp, steamed, peeled and served as a loving sandwich.

It was her love language. 

 

Photography by Maida Pineda. Styling by Maida Pineda. Food preparation by Maida Pineda.

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My mum's shrimp sandwich

Serves 2 

Ingredients

• 260 g shrimps (prawns), peeled 
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ⅓ cup sweet pickle relish (if you can't find pickle relish, simply chop sweet pickles) 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Method

1. Steam or boil shrimps until they turn orange. This takes about five minutes. Don't overcook or else the shrimps will be tough.
2. Set aside to cool. 
3. Once the shrimp has cooled, add pickle relish, salt, pepper and mayonnaise to your taste.
4. Mix ingredients gently until well blended. 
5. Serve in between slices of white bread.