Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Sauce

Crispy Shrimp with Spicy Yuzu Mayo

Serves 4 · Prep: 25 minutes · Cook: 15 minutes · Total: 40 minutes

Rock shrimp tempura coated in creamy spicy sauce with chives and lettuce

If your seafood counter happens to carry rock shrimp, use it. Otherwise, buy ordinary peeled medium shrimp and cut each one into two or three pieces. That is what most of us will be doing, and it works well here.

The spicy mayo catches in the little ridges of batter around each shrimp. A light coating is enough, especially with the yuzu in the sauce. Mix the sauce before you start frying, but wait to toss it with the shrimp until everyone is ready to eat. The crust softens quickly once it’s coated.

Ingredients

For the creamy spicy sauce

½ cup Kewpie mayonnaise or regular mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sriracha
1 tablespoon yuzu juice or fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon honey
Pinch of kosher salt

For the shrimp tempura

1 pound peeled and deveined rock shrimp, or medium shrimp cut into 1-inch pieces
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
½ cup cornstarch
1 large egg yolk
¾ cup ice-cold sparkling water, plus more if needed
Neutral oil, such as canola or rice bran oil, for frying

For serving

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
A small handful of butter lettuce or mixed greens
1 lime, cut into wedges

Instructions

1
Make the creamy spicy sauce
Stir the mayonnaise, sriracha, yuzu juice, honey, and salt until smooth. The sauce should taste a little sharper and hotter than you want on its own; the batter will soften both. Refrigerate it while you fry.
2
Prepare the shrimp
Pat the shrimp very dry and season with the salt. If you are using regular shrimp, cut each one into 1-inch pieces. Toss the shrimp with 2 tablespoons flour until lightly dusted, then shake off the excess.
3
Heat the oil
Pour 2 inches of oil into a heavy pot and heat it to 350°F. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan nearby. Keep the shrimp and sparkling water in the refrigerator until the oil is ready.
4
Mix the batter
Stir the ½ cup flour and cornstarch together. In a second bowl, whisk the egg yolk and sparkling water once or twice. Add the dry ingredients and stir with chopsticks for about 10 seconds. Leave the small lumps alone. If the batter looks thick enough to mound on a spoon, loosen it with another tablespoon of sparkling water.
5
Fry the shrimp
Working in four batches, dip the shrimp in the batter, let the extra drip away, and lower the pieces into the oil one at a time. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring gently to keep them separate, until pale gold and crisp and the shrimp are opaque. Drain on the rack. Let the oil return to 350°F before the next batch.
6
Sauce and serve
Put the hot shrimp in a wide bowl. Add about two-thirds of the sauce and toss quickly. Add more only if the coating still looks dry. Pile the shrimp over the lettuce, scatter with chives, and serve immediately with lime wedges.

Shortcuts and substitutions

No rock shrimp

Use peeled medium shrimp and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Large whole shrimp are good tempura, but they do not give you the same heap of small, saucy bites.

No yuzu

Use fresh lime juice. Lemon works too, though the sauce tastes rounder and less floral.

No Kewpie mayonnaise

Regular mayonnaise works. Stir in an extra ½ teaspoon rice vinegar to give it a little more tang.

Recipe notes

This is a home recreation

This recipe follows the photographed dish's visible structure and flavor profile, but the batter and sauce ratios are written for a home fryer. It is a reconstruction, not a restaurant formula.

Cold batter, hot oil

Temperature is the whole trick. Keep the batter ingredients cold and wait for the oil to return to 350°F between batches. Warm batter or crowded oil produces a soft shell that drinks oil.

Do not sauce the whole future

Only toss what you will eat immediately. Fried shrimp stays crisp on the rack for a few minutes; once it meets mayonnaise, the countdown gets much shorter.

How to tell when shrimp are done

Cut into one piece from the first batch. The center should be pearly and opaque, not glassy. The FDA recommends cooking shrimp until the flesh is pearly or white and opaque. Read the FDA seafood guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is in creamy spicy sauce for rock shrimp?

This version uses Kewpie mayonnaise, sriracha, yuzu or lime juice, honey, and salt. The citrus keeps the sauce from tasting heavy once it coats the fried shrimp.

Can I use regular shrimp instead of rock shrimp?

Yes. Cut peeled medium shrimp into 1-inch pieces before dusting and battering them. The smaller pieces cook quickly and give the finished plate the same bite-size feel.

Why is my shrimp tempura not crispy?

The usual causes are warm batter, wet shrimp, crowded oil, or oil below 350°F. Dry the shrimp well, mix the batter just before frying, and let the oil recover between small batches.

Can I make rock shrimp tempura ahead?

Make the sauce up to three days ahead and keep it refrigerated. Fry and sauce the shrimp just before serving; reheated or pre-sauced tempura loses its light crust.

More recipes to try

Japanese-American · Appetizers