Egg first, then batter for shrimp
By GUI ALINAT
Published February 22, 2006
The guy pumping gas across the divider looked at me funny. "You a chef?" he asked, pointing at the decals on the Guimobile. "My brother-in-law gave me a big jar of shredded coconut. I want to coat shrimp with it and fry, but the coco ain't sticking to the shrimp."
A good idea indeed. Shrimp marry with almost anything tropical. And "coco" is no exception.
And a classic but easy question, too. At least one I could answer using the time it took to fill up a tank, and be short 50 bucks.
"Try eggs, sir," I replied. "Beat some eggs first, dip the shrimp in them, then in the breading with more or less shredded coconut. Then fry."
You see, eggs are your sticking agent. It's not the yolk, with its rich, soft, smooth texture. It's the white. I often apply a thin layer of egg white, using a brush, on meat - rack of lamb, for instance - to make a crust stick, and so it doesn't break apart when sliced. The thin, unnoticeable coat of egg white coagulates under heat and "glues" the meat and breading together. Same with beef Wellington, or any preparation where you want the meat to stick to the puff pastry or phyllo dough.
Fried shrimp is a worldwide phenomenon. You'll find it in many cuisines, from Spanish to French and Portuguese, from Japanese to Hawaiian, Caribbean and South American, and, of course, American Southern cooking. Fried shrimp, or any other fried food, can be light and fresh-tasting if done well. If not, you get a heavy, greasy mess.
To achieve Shrimp Greatness, you need . . . time. This is not a casserole-type dish, throw-it-all-in-the-pan-and-I'm-done kind of deal. This is a time-consuming, precise, one-by-one shrimp affair, a dipping-in-batter, then-in-breading, then-in-hot-oil, watching-them-cook affair. Choosing "colossal" shrimp over tiny (41 to 50 shrimp per pound) will slightly shorten your time. And who's going to resist a meaty shrimp anyway?
Here is the basic technique.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Dip the shrimp in the beaten eggs, then coat the shrimp with bread crumbs. Fry the shrimp in hot oil.
Some of us like to use a thicker beer batter, which is essentially a mixture of eggs, flour and beer. In this case, you will dip the shrimp in the batter, then in the bread crumbs, then fry in hot oil. Or omit the bread crumbs altogether.
Tempura, the archetypal Japanese fried food, whose batter is mixed with chopsticks and kept lumpy, has a unique texture, mainly due to the omission of egg whites.
When it is time to fry the shrimp, make sure your oil is hot. Deep-fry the shrimp one by one, or a couple at a time. Crowding the fryer will drop the temperature of the oil and cause the shrimp to soak up oil. Fried food is best served immediately, and very hot.
Once you nail down the basics, go crazy with ingredients. Work with lemon pepper, curry, cayenne or Cajun spices to flavor the batter. Decrease or increase the percentage of breading by mixing it with coconut, nuts, grated Parmesan, Japanese bread crumbs, herbs, chili peppers, citrus peel or any kind of homemade bread crumbs. If you like shredded coconut, like my gas station buddy, add it to the breading, or to the batter.
The rest is a piece of cake, so to speak. As Emeril would say, the shrimp tell you when they are cooked: They change color.
-- Chef Gui Alinat welcomes questions about cooking and will respond to those of general interest in future columns. Sorry, he can't take phone calls or answer individual requests. Send questions to him in care of Taste, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail him at chefgui@chefgui.com. Please include your name and city of residence.
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