Japanese Shrimp Tempura
Crispy on the outside and tender inside, this is classic Japanese shrimp tempura. Unlike the Chinese version, it uses tempura flour, wheat flour and egg with ice-cold water for a thin batter. Master the shrimp prep and batter consistency and you can fry crisp tempura at home.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Large shrimp5
- Egg1
- Ice-cold water1 cup
- Wheat flour3 tbsp
- Tempura flour3 tbsp
- Frying oilAs needed
Directions
- 1
First remove the heads and peel the shrimp, leaving only the tails on. Thawing the shrimp in salted water works best.
- 2
Insert a toothpick into the back to pull out the vein.
- 3
Remove the pointed water spout at the tail so the oil won't splatter when frying.
- 4
Make three or four shallow cuts on the belly and straighten out the joints. This keeps the shrimp from curling when fried.
- 5
Lightly coat the prepped shrimp in flour. For the batter, beat the egg into a cup of ice-cold water, then mix in the flour and tempura flour in equal parts.
- 6
The order of mixing the batter matters. Add water first, then egg, then flour so you can control the consistency.
- 7
Keep the batter thin, about the consistency of pancake batter. Don't overmix or you'll develop gluten, so stir just briefly.
- 8
Heat the oil to 160°C, coat the shrimp in batter, and slide them in starting from the edge of the pot.
- 9
Fry until crisp. Flick some leftover batter off your fingertips over the shrimp to scatter crispy bits on top.
- 10
This gives you the signature crispy look of Japanese shrimp tempura.
Tips
Use ice-cold water so the batter fries up crisp. Mixing wheat flour with tempura flour keeps the outside crunchy and the inside soft. Be sure to keep the batter on the thin side.