What is shrimp tempura?
Shrimp tempura is one of the most popular Japanese dishes, made using the tempura frying technique. It’s hard not to love these light, crispy, flavorful shrimp fritters.
It’s usually served with sweet-and-sour sauce, soy sauce mixed with miso paste, or tonkatsu sauce. Once you’ve made it at home, you’ll never order it at a restaurant again—just like with my shrimp fritters.
Not only is it pricey, but sometimes the shrimp aren’t even very fresh… yuck.
Tips for Perfect Shrimp Tempura
Keep all the ingredients (flour, water, egg) well chilled. The contrast in temperature helps make the batter extra crisp.
Never overmix the batter, and don’t worry if there are a few lumps of flour left in it. That’s actually even better!
Ideally, start frying as soon as the tempura batter is ready so it stays cold.
Try to keep the oil temperature steady.
Only half the surface of the oil should be covered with ingredients. If you overcrowd it, the temperature may drop too much and ruin the frying.
Here’s a video showing you how to peel shrimp
Variations in Technique
There is no single best way to prepare shrimp tempura.
So even if you choose one technique as a general guideline, feel free to experiment. (If it’s your first time, though, you may want to follow the instructions closely.)
In some cases, the only difference between shrimp tempura methods is the order in which the ingredients are added and used.
For example, some people recommend adding the egg first, before the other ingredients.
Others recommend dipping and frying the shrimp only once the oil is hot and ready; this helps them cook properly and keeps the batter from breaking up into lumps in the pan.
Shrimp tempura recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 30 shrimp, peeled with tails on
- 1 liter of frying oil
- 1 batch of tempura batter
Instructions
- Make the tempura batter.
- If the shrimp are already peeled, leave the tails intact as shown in the photo, then pat them dry with paper towels.
- Heat the frying oil to 175°C. Holding the shrimp by the tails, dip them in the batter, then gently lower them into the oil.
- Cook for 5 minutes, or until golden.
