The Mistake You're Probably Making When Cooking Fried Shrimp

Fried shrimp are a popular restaurant entree, so much so that Red Lobster lost millions on an endless shrimp deal. But they're also something you can make at home if you've got the know-how and the proper equipment and ingredients. It all starts with buying the right supermarket shrimp, of course — and don't be afraid to eat shrimp with the tails still on. In fact, even shrimp heads are edible, and breading or batter makes everything taste better. Before you start frying, though, it's also good to be aware of the proper cooking technique. "One big rookie mistake folks make when frying shrimp is not getting the oil hot enough," according to Chef Nick Wallace on behalf of Ben's Original™.

Typically most deep-fried foods are cooked between 325 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, although occasionally temperatures up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit are used. Wallace, however, insists that shrimp needs to stay right in the middle of the standard range. "You want to aim for around 350 degrees, no lower, or your shrimp will soak up all that grease," he told The Takeout.

While you can get a ballpark estimate of the oil's temperature by throwing a pinch of flour into the oil to see if it sizzles or putting a wooden spoon handle into the pot and checking for tiny bubbles (both of these should happen around 350 degrees Fahrenheit), maintaining a specific temperature will involve using a candy thermometer. A meat thermometer will not work, but the Escali AHC1 stainless steel deep frying and candy thermometer with pot clip costs less than $12 on Amazon.

Chef Nick Wallace also offered another tip about how to fix your fried shrimp, since you've got to watch out for either over- or under-seasoning the breading. "You got to find that sweet spot," he told us. Since it's a bit too expensive and labor-intensive to go by trial and error, you may want to pick a fried shrimp recipe and do exactly what it says. 

If you prefer to come up with your own breading mix, some recipes may use up to two teaspoons of salt and an additional four teaspoons of spices (cayenne, garlic, or paprika, for example) per cup of dry ingredients such as flour or cornmeal. Others are more restrained, using just a single teaspoon of salt per cup along with another teaspoon of a different seasoning, such as black pepper.

One way to make your shrimp seasoning practically foolproof, however, is to coat the crustaceans in panko or breadcrumbs – specifically, a seasoned variety, since the manufacturer will have done all the work of determining the proper amount of salt and spices to add. If you don't want to rely on some test kitchen employee's taste buds, however, you can always sample the breadcrumbs before they've been introduced to any raw egg or shrimp. If they still seem a bit bland, go ahead and add some extra garlic, pepper, or any other flavoring you feel they might lack.