I loves me some fried shrimp and this "recipe" is ideal for succulent, sweet, full-flavored shrimp with a crisp, crunchy coating. The coating does not overpower the shrimp. And my accompaniments complement the shrimp perfectly.
This is another one of those times when I don't really measure and it all comes out good. Perfect your technique and don't get bogged down in details. In frying, it's all about the temperature of the oil. I always use an instant read laser thermometer to take out all the guesswork. You want your oil around 375° and you do NOT crowd the pan. Instead of deep frying today, I used a 10-inch skillet with about 1/3 inch of oil in it.
To prepare the shrimp, I set up a 3-stage dipping process. Batter the shrimp while the oil is coming to temperature.
#1 Equal parts flour and cornstarch with some onion powder, garlic powder, and Old Bay seasoning stirred in.
#2 Beaten eggs.
#3 Panko bread crumbs.
Combine the flour mixture in a small tupperware container. Drop in 4-5 shrimp at a time, cover, and shakeshakeshake.
Next coat the shrimp in the beaten egg, letting any excess drip off.
Finally dredge the shrimp in the Panko.
Place each shrimp on a large plate so you can simply tong the shrimp into the hot oil.
Place the shrimp, one at a time, in the hot oil.
I fried in batches of 8 shrimp at a time. Turn them over after one
minute, then cook another 30 seconds. They'll be a lovely golden brown color. These fring times are for large
shrimp. About thumb size. If you have smaller shrimp, adjust fry times accordingly. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
I'm going for simple here, so I'm using only two dipping sauces. The Thai Style Sweet Chili Sauce from the Asian section of the supermarket works quite nicely here.
My other sauce is soy sauce based:
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB sugar
1 TB mirin
1 TB rice vinegar
Mix until well combined. Taste test. You might want to adjust for your own palate. And if you want to swirl some of the Thai Sauce into the soy mixture, go right ahead.
Enjoy.
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