The dressing is two spoons of mayonnaise cut with one spoon of mustard, nothing more, so the fry has to carry its weight. A single egg beaten with twenty grams of starch makes a coat that puffs into a shell thin enough for the sauce to cling to without going soggy. Toss the shrimp at the table, not in the kitchen, if you want the crunch to last.
Chinese · Appetizer
Crispy Fried Shrimp Balls With Wasabi Mayonnaise
Butterflied shrimp take a pepper and wine marinade, a thin egg and starch coat, and a quick fry, then get tossed while still crisp in a sharp wasabi and mayonnaise dressing.
- Prep20 min
- Cook10 min
- Serves3
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 250 g | shrimp , butterflied and deveined |
| 1 | egg |
| 20 g | starch |
| 1 tbsp | mustard |
| 2 tbsp | mayonnaise |
| to taste | salt |
| to taste | ground black pepper |
| 1 tbsp | cooking wine |
| to taste | frying oil |
Method
- Butterfly each shrimp along the back and pull out the vein.
- Marinate the shrimp with salt, black pepper and the cooking wine for a short while.
- Beat the egg with the starch into a smooth, slightly thick batter.
- Toss the shrimp in the batter until every piece is fully coated.
- Fry in oil heated for deep frying until the coats turn golden and crisp, then lift out and drain well.
- Stir the mustard into the mayonnaise until even.
- Toss the hot fried shrimp with the wasabi mayo just before serving.
Notes
- Drain the shrimp properly after frying; oil left on the coat breaks the mayonnaise and dulls the crisp. A wire rack beats paper towels here, since paper traps steam under the shrimp.
- Mix the sauce just before serving. Wasabi thins as it sits with the mayo, so make it last.
- Butterfly the shrimp evenly so both halves curl at the same rate and the balls fry flat against the basket.
Ratios and technique checked against Anna妈咪的厨味日记 on Douguo (芥末虾球). The method here is written by Stellaok; the photograph is the source kitchen's, credited on the image above and linked back to the page it came from. No recipe text is reproduced.