Chinese Fried Shrimps are deep-fried in a airy and light batter, which gives them a crispy, yet soft texture. This dish is a childhood favorite and is the perfect appetizer to dip in sweet and sour sauce.
We also perfectly seasoned the batter, therefore these Chinese fried shrimps can be served on their own as a side dish with a bowl of steaming white rice.
The inspiration behind the dish
Growing up, my parents would always make these airy and light fried shrimp. My mom would often make a mayo-ketchup mix dip, although we also love to dip them in sweet and sour sauce. In french, we call them "Beignet de Crevette", which directly translates to shrimp doughnut. I believe my parents learned this recipe while they were working in Asian restaurants in France, and have been making them ever since.
What are Chinese Fried Shrimps
These Chinese fried shrimp are not like any others... the batter is light, fluffy and crispy. Dip them in your favorite sauce, and these make the perfect appetizer or side dish. The secret ingredient in the batter is baking powder. The recipe is painfully easy, the most difficult part is to wait for the batter to rest before dipping your shrimps.
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Tips to make the best Chinese Fried Shrimps
This dish is fool-proofed, but here are a few tips to make the BEST fried shrimps.
- We suggest unpeeling your shrimp completely, along with the tail. Sometimes, the tail will retain some water, and these will cause oil to splatter during the drying process which can be dangerous. If you decide to keep the tails, make sure to let your shrimps dry completely on a paper towel.
- Let the batter rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes for a fluffier texture.
- Dip the shrimps in flour to make the batter stick better.
- Put about 1 1/2 inch oil in your sauce pan so that it covers your shrimps and the batter fry properly.
- Fry your shrimps for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the batter becomes golden.
- Let the fried shrimp rest on a cooling rack for the best crispy texture.
How to serve
These Chinese fried shrimps are best served immediately after resting 1-2 minute on the cooling rack. We love to serve them as an appetizer, or as a side dish with a steaming bowl of white rice. Don't forget your favorite dipping sauce! We love to dip them in sweet and sour sauce, sweet chili sauce, or my mom's favorite, mayochup (mayo and ketchup).
Ingredients
- Shrimps are unpeeled and deveined. We bought the frozen one in our asian supermarket, that already comes deveined and headless. However, we unpeel them ourselves. We personally find the ones that already comes unpeeled are less tasty and usually flavorless.
- Flour for the batter.
- Large egg will acts as a combining agent.
- Baking powder is the secret ingredient for fluffy batter!
- Salt, garlic powder and white pepper will help flavor the batter and will make your fried shrimp delicious even without dipping sauce.
- Water to help achieve the correct sticky batter.
- Flour for coating shrimps will be needed in addition of the flour for the batter. This step will help the batter stick better to the shrimps.
- Vegetable oil for frying, or any neutral oil.
Instructions
Prep your shrimps. On a paper towel, let the unpeeled and deveined shrimps dry completely.
Make your batter. In a large bowl, whisk your large egg. Add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, white pepper and water. Whisky together until combined. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Coat the shrimps. On a large plate, put 1/3 cup of flour. Coat all your shrimps, this will help the batter stick.
Prep the oil. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inch of oil on medium high. Put in a chopstick and if little bubbles start forming around it, the oil is ready for frying.
Deep-fry the shrimps. Dip one shrimp at a time in the batter, and carefully drop in the oil. Let fry for 2-3 minutes, turn them around and let fry for another 2 minutes. Do not overcrowd shrimps in the saucepan or they will start sticking together.
Cool and serve! After frying, let the shrimps rest on a cooling rack for 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately.
Chinese Fried Shrimps
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimps unpeeled and deveined
- 1/2 cup flour for batter
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- pinch white pepper
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup flour for coating shrimps
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- On a paper towel, let the unpeeled and deveined shrimps dry completely.
- In a large bowl, whisk your large egg. Add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, white pepper and water. Whisky together until combined. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- On a large plate, put 1/3 cup of flour. Coat all your shrimps, this will help the batter stick.
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inch of oil on medium high. Put in a chopstick and if little bubbles start forming around it, the oil is ready for frying.
- Dip one shrimp at a time in the batter, and carefully drop in the oil. Let fry for 2-3 minutes, turn them around and let fry for another 2 minutes. Do not overcrowd shrimps in the saucepan or they will start sticking together.
- After frying, let the shrimps rest on a cooling rack for 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately.
Just made this this weekend and it's a keeper for flavor and simplicity. While the batter was chilling in the fridge, I got the shrimp peeled and dried. Worked out very well for time management.