Here’s how to make perfectly crispy popcorn shrimp that is the ultimate pair with a cold beer.
Popcorn Shrimp is a type of deep fried breaded and/or battered shrimp seasoned with spices and served with different dipping sauces. Though the origins of this dish is not documented it generally agreed upon that it came from the United States’ Cajun South and claimed by a restaurant chain called Red Lobster. It was during the 1970s when it all started when shrimp was a popular seafood choice, during those days Red Lobster was growing, traditionally they were popular in serving shrimp cocktails but creating a much more manageable way to plate and eat seafood was the priority and the breaded and fried version was then created and proved to be successful.
This is quite easy to make as well as to cook, it will only take you around 3 minutes. Large shrimps though is recommended for easy preparation you can still use the small ones or even the broken pieces. The spice and the dip defines it all so spice it up and serve it with your favourite dip. And is goes perfectly with beer! Just saying
Print
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: 7 servings 1x
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 1 kg shrimps (peeled and deveined)
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1½ beer
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- salt
- oil (for deep-frying)
Cajun Seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Pat dry shrimps with paper towels, give it several score it on the sides this will help the batter adhere better to the shrimps. Set aside.
- Combine Cajun seasoning in a small bowl then divide it into two equal amounts. Season shrimps with one part of the Cajun seasoning and salt.
- Combine together flour, cornstarch and remaining Cajun seasoning. Add the beer and mix until well combined.
- Place breadcrumbs in a large plate. Set aside.
- Prepare a deep fryer or wok filled with oil for deep frying, heat up to 180C.
- One by one dip shrimp in the batter then into the bread crumbs then drop carefully into the hot oil. Do it with the remaining but do it in small batches. Cook until golden, this will take around 3 minutes.
- Place cooked shrimps in a paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil, season with salt then serve with your favourite dip. I used aioli and sweet chilli sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
