A popular Japanese shrimp dish that is breaded and deep-fried is called Ebi fry (Ebi Furai) in Japanese.
Ebi fry differs from another popular Japanese dish, shrimp tempura. Both are deep-fried dishes, but, the batter to coat the shrimp is different.
Ebi fry is used as the standard breading technics–first dredging the item with flour, dipping it in egg wash, and then finally coating it with breadcrumbs, contrary, shrimp tempura is dipped in a tempura batter made of a mixture of (cake) flour and cold water.
Generally, Ebi fry is served with shredded flat cabbage and Worcester/ tonkatsu sauce or tartar sauce/ lemon wedges.
I am not sure what the difference is between Panko Shirmp and “Japanese-style” ebi furai since “Panko” breaded fried shrimp dish is all over the world.
So what you can learn from my post today about worldwide popular Panko shrimp are how to prepare the shrimp and the best ingredients to make the coating crispy! (Almost dangerous and crispy to cut your inside mouth easily…)
Prepare shrimp to remove the fishy taste and add fresh texture including deveining and cleaning (with salt & starch) as explained in this post.
Additionally, cut off the tips of the shrimp’s tail (1/8 inch), and then squeeze out of the inside water with a knife to reduce the risk of oil spatter during seep-frying for deep-fried shrimp dishes.
If you want to make Ebi Furai in a beautiful straight shape, follow the steps below.
Honestly, I don’t care whether they are straight or not, but Straightening the shrimp up makes ebi fry looks bigger and fancier.
The Recipe For Ebi Furai
Panko fried shrimp is a very simple dish, so you can make your recipe special with several options such as using the batter mix, and changing Panko to Italian bread crumbles.
Yet, whatever the definition of Japanese-style Panko shrimp, in case my blog is about “Japanee home cooking” so I should use Japanese Panko.
The Best Panko To Make IT Crispy
Kikkoman Panko Japanese Style Toasted Bread Crumbs
This is the best Panko that I recommend to you.
Only using this Panko, your panko-breaded deep-fried dish will be super-crispy!
But, it’s almost the weapon to cut inside of the mouth for those who have sensitive inside-of-mouth skin as I do.
Do You Want To Straighten The Shrimp?
Since the shrimp curls up when it is cooked, we occasionally want to make the shrimp straighten to make it bigger and fancier.
(even I don’t care much. Even more, I cut off the tails!)
Indeed, nice big and long “ebi fry” will be served when you go to restaurants in Japan.
To keep your shrimp nice and straight while cooking, it requires a few more processes, (and is a little troublesome) so you can skip this step as I do.
To straighten the shrimp, make a few 1/3 depth slits on the top and bottom sides vertically.
The depth slit is really sensitive, If it’s not deep enough, the shrimp will not be straight, but if it’s too deep, the body will be apart.
Next, hold the shrimp with both hands, and gently bend (or push) the back until you feel a “snap” with your thumbs.
Another tip is to coat the shrimp really thick while using a thick batter mix or double-coating. It’s just forcibly to straighten up the prepared shrimp…
How To Keep Breading From Falling Off When Deep-Frying
Unfortunately, when you’re deep-frying shrimp, its delicious golden crisp layer often falls off.
Everyone doesn’t want to it happen, so I’ll tell you a few simple tricks.
As easy as breaded shrimp is to throw together, perfecting the technique can be tricky at first.
- Pat-Dry The Shrimp Well
- Coat The Shrimp With Just Enough Flour (Avoid Too Much Flour To Coat The Shrimp)
- Shake Off Excess Flour & Egg Wash
- Press The Shrimp Into Panko Pool On Both Sides
- Rest The Coated Shrimp In A Fidge For 30 Minutes
- Avoid Touching The Coated Shrimp For The First A Few Minutes
Dry The Shrimp Well
The first step to breading shrimp is essential.
Make sure the shrimp is completely dry before starting the dredging. Using a paper towel, pat the meat dry on all sides.
Excess moisture will cause the flour to get soggy and will not adhere properly to the shrimp.
Shake Off Excess Flour & Egg Wash
Shake off any excess flour on the shrimp thoughtfully, and then, put it in the egg wash and shake off any excess egg wash.
Excess flour is the most cause to fall the coating off in the oil since it bothers the coating from adherence to the shrimp.
Press The Shrimp Into Panko Pool On Both Sides
Press the shrimp into Panko Pool on both sides thoughtfully so that Panko bread crumb sticks to the egg layer.
Rest The Coated Shrimp In A Fidge For 30 Minutes
This tip is more to make the crispy coating rather than avoiding the coating falling off, still, it helps to adhere the shrimp securely.
This process helps the Panko and the batter will combine well and stick together which means it can be fired beautiful golden brown without the coating falling, and keep the oil clean.
I use this tip for the most deep-fried dish and talk about it in this post when I make Potato Korroke.
Avoid Touching The Coated Shrimp For The First A Few Minutes
After the pieces are thoroughly placed in the hot oil, let them be for a while.
The more you touch them, the more likely the breading is to fall off.
Be careful not to touch or turn the shrimp too much.
Use The Batter Mix
Despite I talk passionately about how you can prevent the golden Panko coating from falling into the oil, well, long story short, use your favorite batter.
No hesitation.
The batter is a lifesaver to skip the coating process and hardly falls off into the oil when you step the proper preparation.
Moreover, put the flour lightly on the shrimp before coating them in the batter, it helps to adhere the batter to the shrimp.
My Batter Mix Recipe
- 1/2 cup of cake flour or rice flour
- 1/2 cup of cold milk
- 1 TSP of baking powder
- 1 egg
For the crispy, crunchy, light Panko shrimp, I use cake flour or rice flour since they are less (or free) gluten content.
Use cold milk or water to prevent the flour from creating gluten.
I season the shrimp so I don’t season my batter, but you can season it in your way!
Japanese Fried Shrimp “Ebi Fry”
Ingredients
- 1 lb Shrimp (Medium-Large)
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp cake flour/rice flour for pre-coating
- 2 and more cups Kikkoman Panko bread crumbs
- canola oil or coconut oil for deep-fry
For The Batter
- ½ cup cake flour/rice flour
- ½ cup cold water/milk
- 1 whole large egg
- 1 TSP baking powder
For Garnish
- Lemon wedges
- Japanese tartar sauce *1
- Japanese Worcester sauce (TONKATSU sauce) *2
Instructions
- Clean shrimp and tap-dry them well with kitchen paper. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper lightly.*Read this post on how to prepare shrimp to remove the fishy taste and add fresh texture.
- Make a butter mix. Adjust the Density as you like.
- Pre-coating the shrimp. Lightly, coat each shrimp with cake/rice flour while using a shifter. *It helps the batter adhere to the shrimp.
- Dip each shrimp in the batter mix, and shake for the excess mix. Then, press the shrimp into the Panko breadcrumbs.
- Rest the coated shrimp in a fridge for 30 minutes. (at least for 10 minutes.)
- Heat the oil in a deep pot to 350 °F
- Gently place a few pieces- with plenty of space between-in the oil.
- As soon as you see a golden rim appear around the side of the shrimp, flip the pieces. Deep-fry them for about a total of 2-3 minutes.Hold up the shrimp from the oil and when you have the sensation (like vibration) from the shrimp, it is a sign that you can remove them from the oil.
- Transfer the shrimp to a cooling rack in the standing position to drain the excess oil.
- Serve the Panko shrimp with garnish and the sauce, if desired*1 Japanese-style chunky tartar sauce*2 Japanese Worcester sauce (TONKATSU sauce)
Notes
Dipping Sauce
- TARTAR SAUCE
- JAPANESE WORCESTER SAUCE
- NAGOYA SWEET MISO SAUCE
- TERIYAKI SAUCE
Japanese Supreme Chunky Tartar Sauce
This easy homemade Japanese tartar sauce is better than anything (especially you’re hungry) you can buy at the store. It’s creamy, refreshing, kicking, filling, and perfect for serving next to your favorite deep-fried dishes and sandwiches. Mayonnaise provides the whole balance of flavor in this tartar sauce. For the best tartar sauce, (and this recipe is made with Japanese mayo,) you’ve gotta try Japanese mayonnaise. Pickles add crunch and flavor to the sauce. You can use dill pickles, but I recommend switching to pickled jalapeno instead of common pickles. Japanese ginger pickles also give you a unique sweet flavor. *JUMP TO THE RECIPE
Homemade Japanese Worcester “Tonkatsu” Sauce
This authentic Tonkatsu sauce is easy to make, delicious and addictive. Thick, sweet, tangy, and savory sauce. Japanese people are obsessed with Japanese Worcester sauce since it became the pantry staple, and is mainly used as a dipping sauce for deep-fried food such as Tonkatsu, Ebi-fry, and Tempra. It’s also a popular sauce for Japanese street food such as Takoyaki, Yakisoba, and Okonomiyaki. *JUMP TO THE RECIPE
VERSATILE NAGOYA SWEET MISO SAUCE
The Nagoya-style sweet miso sauce. The most versatile sauce or glaze you can easily at home. It is everything you want when grilling, broiling stir-frying, stewing, for meat, seafood, veggies, mushrooms, tofu. This rich umami sauce brings savory flavor to Japanese food and many other cuisines. *JUMP TP THE RECIPE
Absolute-Authentic Japanese Teriyaki Sauce
The best authentic restaurant-grade TERIYAKI sauce, with only 4 ingredients, without MIRIN! A sticky sweet and rich umami taste, making it the perfect glaze over yakitori/ teriyaki chicken, salmon, and more. Once you make this easy but absolute-authentic Japanese essential sauce, I guarantee you won’t buy a bottle in a grocery store again like you’re Japanese. *CHECK OUT THE RECIPE
OTHER SEAFOOD RECIPES
Authentic Japanese Shrimp Tempura
Light Crispy, Shrimp Tempura with a delicate, flaky batter made of the tempura batter mix. This is the easiest way to make AUTHENTIC JAPANESE TEMPURA, which is away from fritter-like fluffy, greasy, heavy, thick, crunchy tempura-like shrimp. Shrimp tempura has been a staple of traditional Japanese cuisine as well as Sushi. The aesthetically delicate, light, and crisp batter is the perfect match for seafood and vegetables. *CHECK OUT THE RECIPE
Japanese TERIMAYO Shrimp; Easy Shrimp Stir-fry With Teriyaki Mayonnaise
Easy 30 Minute Teriyaki Shrimp made with a homemade AUTHENTIC JAPANESE teriyaki sauce. This teriyaki shrimp stir fry is called TERIMAYO shrimp, an easy and flavorful dish that combines savory teriyaki sauce and creamy rich Japanese mayonnaise. You can change or add the vegetables as you like. It is ready in under 30 minutes (not counting making authentic teriyaki sauce), a super easy meal for a busy weeknight! Serving over rice will be perfect! *CHECK OUT THE RECIPE
Baked Cod In Foil With Lemon & Japanese Mayonnaise
Japanese mayonnaise can bring savory creamy flavor to the plain white fish. This cooking method is great for shortening cooking time while trapping any savory flavors. You can also arrange any of your favorite herbs & spices. For thicker or heavier pieces of fish, increase cooking time. To remove the fishy taste, check out the Japanese cooking tips in this recipe. Fancy seafood dinner with very little prep. *CHECK OUT THE RECIPE
Sesame-crusted Ahi tuna With Authentic Teriyaki sauce
Ahi tuna is high in protein, low in fat, technically healthy, and very easy to cook. Learn the secret to preparing tuna to cut off the fishy taste and pull out the Umami flavor for a sesame-crusted seared tuna steak. It may seem fancy like the dinner for holidays, date nights, and special occasions, but honestly, it’s very easy, simple, and tasty, and both best parts, ahi tuna and authentic! Japanese Teriyaki sauce is a ridiculously savory combination! Only the effort you may need is to make Teriyaki sauce and Japanese citrus chili paste in advance. *CHECK OUT THE RECIPE