Golden fried prawns is the perfect starter dish made with jumbo prawns, coated with crispy fried batter. Fried prawns or shrimp are a popular seafood starter in restaurants, and anyone who loves prawns can’t resist this delectable appetizer.
This popular Chinese-American dish is a special appetizer to make on New Year’s Eve or for the Lunar New Year. (Maybe make some homemade fortune cookies too? )
But these crispy batter fried prawns are easy enough to make on any day you want to enjoy some delicious fried shrimp.
Cooking and Serving Golden Fried Prawns
There are various ways to make batter fried jumbo prawns, but popular versions are the light-battered style and the type served in Chinese restaurants – mildly spicy golden fried prawns. If you enjoy spiciness, use chili sauce or chili powder as mentioned in this recipe. For plain golden prawns, just skip the spices.
Prawns and shrimp are delicate seafood that need gentle care and fast cooking. Prawns fry quickly. Prolonged cooking on high heat makes them rubbery and hard. High heat frying or roasting for more than 5 minutes is too much, evaporates the natural juices of the prawns, making them tough.
Crispy batter fried prawns are perfect when served hot, with cocktail sauce, spicy sauce, tartar sauce, soy sauce, ketchup or the sauce of your choice. A simple spritz of lemon juice also works nicely.
Prawns or Shrimp…which one to use?
Prawns are comparatively stronger shrimp. Shrimp are delicate to handle. Prawns get mildly sweet when cooked, more so than shrimp. Prawns are larger than shrimp, and therefore easier to handle for recipes like Golden Fried Prawns.
Though they each have unique features, prawns and shrimp are usually interchangeable in recipes because of their similar taste and texture.
Choose bigger size cleaned, shelled, and de-veined prawns or shrimp for this recipe. Similar to shrimp, small prawns are too delicate to handle and often break. I use large king-size prawns for this recipe.
Cleaning and de-veining prawns:
Rinse the prawns with water to clean. Break the outer shell and insert your thumbs to peel it open. Pull off the tiny legs. If you wish to leave the tail, leave the shell on it.
To de-vein prawns or shrimp, rinse them once again in running water. Make a thin slit from the head towards the tail on its back. You’ll see something that looks like a thin black string. This is the digestive tract of the prawn and should be removed before cooking. Pull the string with your fingers gently through the entire length.
These shelled and de-veined prawns are now ready to fry.
How to Batter Fry Jumbo Prawns
Peanut oil is a nice choice for fried prawn and fried shrimp recipes. Vegetable oil or canola oil also work well for frying. That’s because all three of these oils have a high smoke point. Olive oil has a lower smoke point and is better suited for sautéing.
Ingredients
- 24 Prawns or shrimp, jumbo size
- Oil for frying
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp chili sauce or 1/4 tsp chili powder – optional
- ¼ cup water (approximately)
Recipe for Golden Fried Prawns
Prepping prawns:
Clean the jumbo prawns or shrimp with running water. If you have whole prawns, read the above section about how to de-shell and devein prawns and shrimp.
Pat the raw shrimp dry with a paper towel to remove the excess water.
Directions
- In a mixing bowl, mix the 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour and 1 tbsp of corn starch. Add in the 1 tsp of salt, 3/4 tsp of sugar, pinch of baking powder, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp of ground pepper, and 1/4 tsp red chili powder. (You can replace the chili powder with 1 tsp of chili sauce, but the chili is a completely optional ingredient.) A dash of garlic powder or turmeric powder could also be used, if you enjoy those flavors.
- Mix the egg into the dry ingredients.
- Next, add a quarter cup of water and mix until there are no lumps. The batter should be thin and not thick. Adjust the amount of water accordingly.
- Heat the oil in a skillet or other deep fry pan to a medium-hot temperature.
- Using small tongs to pick up the prawn by the tail, add each prawn one by one into the oil without crowding. Let them fry for a minute. Then gently flip them and fry the other side. Wait until the batter is cooked and bulged and is a light brown color. Remove the golden fried prawns from the oil and let rest on a paper towel. Repeat this step for the rest of the batches. Serve while still hot.
This fried shrimp dish can be served with lemon wedges and dipping sauce as an appetizer or with egg fried rice or vegetable fried rice to make a really delicious shrimp fried rice.
Golden fried prawns | How to batter fry jumbo prawns
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Frying pan
Ingredients
- 24 Prawns or shrimp, jumbo size
- Peanut oil for frying
- 3 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp Corn starch
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¾ tsp Sugar
- 1/8 tsp Baking powder
- 1 Egg
- ½ tsp Ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Chili sauce or 1/4 tsp chili powder, optional
- ¼ cup Water approx.
Instructions
Preparation:
- Clean the jumbo prawns or shrimp with running water. (If you have whole prawns read the above post to learn how to de-shell and de-vein prawns and shrimp.)
- Pat them dry with kitchen tissue to remove the excess water.
Recipe for Golden fried prawns:
- In a mixing bowl, mix the 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour and 1 tbsp of corn starch. Add in the 1 tsp of salt, 3/4 tsp of sugar, pinch of baking powder, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp of ground pepper, and the 1/4 tsp red chili powder. (You can replace the chili powder with 1 tsp of chili sauce, but the chili is a completely optional ingredient.)
- Mix the egg into the dry ingredients.
- Add a quarter cup of water and mix until there are no lumps. The batter should be thin and not thick. Adjust water accordingly.
How to Golden fry battered prawns:
- Heat the oil in a skillet or other deep fry pan to a medium-hot temperature.
- Using small tongs to pick up the prawn by the tail, add each prawn one by one into the oil without crowding the space. Let them fry slowly for a minute. Then gently flip them and fry the other side. Wait until the batter is cooked and bulged and is a light brown color. Remove the golden fried prawns from the oil. Repeat this step for the rest of the batches.
Notes
1) Use jumbo tiger prawns for a better outcome.
2) The temperature of the oil should be at medium-high or medium to golden fry prawns without overcooking them.
