Prawn Tempura ( Battered Prawns )
Homemade easy Prawn Tempura recipe ( Japanese battered prawns ), made with large tiger prawns, and crispy tempura batter coating. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce. Perfect seafood appetizer for all occasions.
Servings: 4
Calories: 166kcal
Ingredients
- 16 pieces Large Prawns/shrimp Large king prawns, tiger prawns, shrimp, ( Peeled, deveined, and tail-on )
- 2 tbsp Plain flour To dust the prawns
- Oil for frying Vegetable or neutral flavour oil
- Salt & pepper to taste To season the prawns
Batter Ingredients
- 100 gram Plain flour All-purpose flour
- 30 gram Corn starch Or potato starch
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- 1 Egg
- 200 ml Cold water
Dipping Sauce
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce Light soy or all-purpose Japanese soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Mirin Japanese rice cooking wine
- 1 tbsp Rice vinegar or lemon juice
- 1-2 tsp Brown sugar or white sugar
- ¼ tsp Grated ginger
Instructions
Prepare Prawns
- Prawns should be peeled, deveined, and pat dry with paper towel or clean cloth to remove excess moisture. ( You can either leave the tail-on or remove the tails to your preference. )
- To prevent the prawn from curling, cut shallow diagonal slits on the bottom and also on the top of the prawn. Then gently press and flatten it make it straight. Season the prawns with salt and pepper to taste.
- Lightly dust each prawn in the plain flour and set them aside.
Make Tempura Batter
- Combine plain flour, corn starch, and baking powder in a small bowl and set it aside. Whisk one egg and cold water in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour mixture in. Stir gently for 1-2 minutes and don't worry about the lumps.
Deep-Frying
- Fill the pot with frying oil about 3-4 inches high. Heat the oil over medium-high heat between ( 340º-350º F ). Test with few drops of batter if the oil is ready or not. Once the oil is hot enough, dip the prawn in the batter mix, gently toss excess batter.
- Add the battered prawns in hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes or until crispy. Flip occacionally. Then remove from oil and place it over the cooling rack. ( Repeat the process and do not overcrowd the frying oil. Fry with small batches. )
Dipping Sauce
- Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and grated ginger in a small bowl and whisk until sugar dissolved.
Notes
- Prawns - You can use large king prawns, tiger prawns, white prawns, shrimps, etc.
- Do not recommend using cooked prawns for this recipe.
- Tempura batter - should be light and crispy and the batter consistency is not too thick nor too watery. If the batter is too thick you can adjust the consistency by adding more cold water. Do not whisk the batter too much.
- You can create more fluffy tempura crust by sprinking few drops of batter over the prawn while deep frying.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to clear the oil between batches.
- You can also serve prawn tempura with Tentsuyu, sweet chilli sauce, hot chilli sauce, spicy mayo, etc.
- This recipe is for 14-16 prawns and you can serve up 4 people as an appetizer or up to 2 people as a main dish.
Nutrition
Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 379mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 67IU | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 2mg
