Who doesn't like shrimp? Steamed, fried, broiled, or boiled in Old Bay. Any way you choose, they are always a taste delight. We are fortunate here in the Metropolitan D.C. area that we have our friends at the D.C. Wharf who provide us with the very freshest seafood from the Chesapeake Bay.
When serving shrimp to guests, I always head to the wharf to select the finest and freshest of the day. Fresh steamed shrimp served on a bed of cracked iced with lemon wedges, freshly made cocktail sauce and saltine crackers. What could be better?
But, on occasion, I have been known to pick up frozen shrimp to have in case of emergency. One never knows when one may need to throw together a quick shrimp salad to serve on toast points with an iced Pinot Grigio. As hosts and hostesses, we must always be at the ready. Frozen shrimp are not the preferred, but they do serve a purpose.
I had a container of frozen shrimp in the freezer which was reaching its maximum freezer life. I needed to come up with a suitable way to prepare them, so I decided to use the batter and fry method. I thawed them in the refrigerator and then drained them to remove the excess water left from the defrosting. Serving them with just cocktail sauce was not really a palatable solution to me. I've tried sauteing them in the past in a little butter or olive oil and I am usually not pleased with that outcome either. So I decided to batter and fry them. It was the perfect solution to my shrimp dilemma. Read on for a quick pictorial on how to prepare a thin batter suitable for frying shrimp. I will provide the recipe at the end of this post.
Preparing the batter is very quick and simple. We start by adding one cup of all-purpose flour to our bowl.
Add one cup of cold milk.
Add one-quarter cup vegetable oil.
Add one teaspoon baking powder
Add one-half teaspoon salt.
Add one large or extra-large egg.
Use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment to thoroughly combine ingredients.
Beat with the electric whisk for about ninety seconds to get the perfect consistency. Refrigerate for a few minutes while you are preparing the shrimp.
Here are my large shrimp, thawed and thoroughly rinsed and drained. You can dry them lightly with a paper towel. But don't overdo it.
One-half cup of all-purpose flour into a large Ziploc bag.
Add the shrimp, seal the bag and give it a good shake.
You want to get every shrimp thoroughly coated with flour.
Remove the thin batter from the refrigerator. Remove a flour coated shrimp from the Ziploc bag one at a time, holding each by the very end of the tail. Dredge each shrimp through the batter and place onto a plate. I did eight shrimp at a time. Once you have eight shrimp coated with batter, drop them into the hot oil on the range top one at a time. The first batch may take a little longer than the following. You may need to cook the first batch for two minutes per side. But once the oil is at temperature, they will cook very quickly. In a minute or under.
Here is our first batch just about done.
Continuing with batches of eight at a time, we ended up with a beautiful plate of delectable deep fried battered shrimp.
And a plate of shrimp and cocktail sauce. A nice cold plate of coleslaw would be the perfect accompaniment. With the oil hot, these cook in ninety seconds to one minute. They are wonderfully light. I use Wesson vegetable oil for deep frying. I used a small saucepan with about one to two inches of oil for this dish. Keep in mind, the shrimp are already cooked. You are just heating them through and baking the batter. An excellent choice for frozen shrimp.
Thin Batter Recipe
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 extra-large egg.
Whisk all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl with the whisk attachment on your electric hand mixer. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
