Ebi Fry
Panko prawns fried straight rather than curled, served with tartare. A Japanese diner classic and the reason for the cuts along the belly.
Photograph credit: Ebi Fry 003 by Ocdp · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia
Don't Make These Mistakes
Three cuts and a firm press, or they curl.
180°C / 356°F and two and a half minutes — prawns need very little.
Tails on, for something to hold.
How to Make Ebi Fry
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Devein the prawns and make 3 shallow cuts across the belly of each.
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Hold each prawn belly-down and press firmly along its length to straighten it. You will hear the fibres give.
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Season with the salt and pepper.
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Coat in flour, then egg, then panko, pressing the crumbs on.
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Mix the mayonnaise, chopped egg, gherkins, capers, onion and lemon juice for the tartare.
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Heat the oil to 180°C / 355°F.
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Fry the prawns in two batches for 2 minutes 30 seconds each, until pale gold.
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Drain on a rack.
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Serve at once with the tartare and lemon wedges.
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What's Going On Here
Prawns curl in hot oil because the muscle on the belly side contracts more than the back. Three or four shallow cuts across the underside sever that muscle, and then a firm press to straighten before breading — after which they stay straight through the fryer. It is the difference between a prawn that looks like a restaurant made it and one that looks like a comma.
After You've Cooked It
Eat immediately. The coating softens within twenty minutes.
Changing the Recipe
- Panko gives the crunchiest crust here, but ordinary dried breadcrumbs will still fry crisp if that's what's in the cupboard.
Good With
- Shredded cabbage
- Steamed rice
- Miso soup
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Gomae, Nasu Dengaku, Sunomono.
Ebi Fry Nutrition
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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