How To Prepare Shrimp For Shrimp Tempura & Ebi Fry
How do you keep shrimp and prawns straight when frying? In this easy tutorial, I'll show you the Japanese technique for how to prepare shrimp for shrimp tempura and ebi fry so they don't curl up when you cook them.
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Ingredients
- large shrimp or prawns
- potato starch or cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp sake (plus more, if needed)
Instructions
- Pull off the head of the large shrimp or prawns if it is still attached. Pull off the outer shell. Keep the last segment of shell and the tail tip on.
- Devein the back of shrimp with a skewer. The vein runs right along the back. Insert the tip of the skewer sideways about ½ inch (1.3 cm) down from the head of the shrimp and pull the skewer tip up towards you. This will lift up the vein and you can pull off the vein with the skewer or with your hand. If the vein is broken, then insert again a bit lower towards the tail. If you can’t find the vein, then don’t worry about it.
- Make a couple of slits underside. Hold the shrimp with both hands and bend it backward (belly-up) to make it straight. Straighten the shrimp as much as possible in order to get the desired shape.
- Cut the tip of the shrimp tail as you see below.
- Remove dirty water in the tail by holding the tip of the knife down on the tail and moving it from left to right (see #1) squeezing the water out from the cut tip. If you skip this process, water retained in the tail might create splatter in the oil. Then take off the shell from the middle tail. You just need to pull it out (see #2).
- Sprinkle some potato starch or cornstarch and coat the shrimp. The starch will absorb the smell and dirt from the shrimp. Rinse the shrimp under running water.
- Add 1 Tbsp sake and rub with your hands. Discard the liquid after 10 minutes (no need to rinse).
- Now, the prawns or shrimp are ready for Shrimp Tempura or Ebi Fry.
