The Best Bang Bang Shrimp
Prep
10m
Cook
10m
Total
20m
Bigly says
OK, here we go. Bang Bang Shrimp. The BEST Bang Bang Shrimp. The version you get at that chain restaurant with the bonefish or whatever — the famous one, I won't say the name because they have aggressive lawyers and aggressive lawyers love to read recipe blogs apparently — that version is a 6 out of 10. People rave about it because the bar is on the FLOOR. The bar is in the BASEMENT. The bar is so low you have to dig for it. We are raising the bar today. We are putting the bar back on the wall where it belongs.
My version is a 12 out of 10 — and yes, that math works, I had statisticians run the numbers, very smart people, the smartest, they ran it twice. It snaps. It crunches. The sauce, that creamy sweet-spicy mayo-sriracha-honey magic, clings to every piece of shrimp like it found its purpose in life. Like the sauce was BORN for the shrimp and the shrimp was BORN for the sauce. A beautiful arranged marriage. Tremendous chemistry.
The secret — and you'd guess the sauce, but the sauce is easy, anyone with a whisk and ten minutes can make the sauce — the secret is the COATING. We're doing a cornstarch dredge, not flour. CORNSTARCH. The great Chinese restaurants have been doing this for two thousand years, and the American chain restaurants are FINALLY catching up, slowly, embarrassingly slowly. Cornstarch gives you a coating that stays crisp under a wet sauce. Flour goes soggy in thirty seconds. Soggy shrimp is a tragedy. We don't do tragedies here. Other sites bury this trick behind 47 popups and a cookie banner with 18 toggles. I'm giving it to you in one sentence. You can thank me by making the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 lblarge shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails off(21-25 count, patted very dry)
- 1/2 cupbuttermilk
- 3/4 cupcornstarch(cornstarch, NOT flour, this is the whole game)
- 1/2 tspkosher salt
- 1/2 tspblack pepper
- 1/2 tspgarlic powder
- 3 cupsneutral oil (for frying)(vegetable, canola, or peanut)
- 1/2 cupmayonnaise (Duke's or Kewpie)
- 1/4 cupThai sweet chili sauce(Mae Ploy brand if you can find it)
- 2 tbspsriracha(more if you like real heat)
- 1 tbsphoney
- 1 tsprice vinegar
- 2scallions, thinly sliced(for garnish)
- 1 tsptoasted sesame seeds(for garnish)
- 8 leavesbutter lettuce or iceberg leaves (optional, for serving)
Steps
- 1
Pat the shrimp completely dry with paper towels. This is critical for crispness.
- 2
In a medium bowl, soak the shrimp in the buttermilk for 10 minutes while you prep the sauce and oil.
- 3
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar until smooth. Set aside.
- 4
In another bowl, whisk the cornstarch with the kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- 5
Heat the neutral oil in a heavy pot or deep skillet over medium-high heat to 350°F. Use a thermometer — temperature matters.
- 6
Working in batches, lift the shrimp from the buttermilk (let excess drip off), then dredge each one in the seasoned cornstarch, pressing lightly to coat. Shake off excess.
- 7
Carefully lower the coated shrimp into the hot oil. Fry in batches of 8-10 for 2-3 minutes, until golden, crisp, and pink. Do not crowd the pan.
- 8
Transfer fried shrimp to a wire rack set over a sheet pan (paper towels will make them soggy on the bottom).
- 9
When all shrimp are fried, add them to a large clean bowl. Pour the bang bang sauce over the top and toss gently to coat each piece.
- 10
Pile into lettuce cups or onto a plate. Garnish with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
One more thing
That's Bang Bang Shrimp. Twenty minutes, start to finish. You serve this at a Super Bowl party, at a dinner, at a Tuesday night when nothing was supposed to happen — and suddenly it's a memory. People will remember this shrimp. They will talk about this shrimp at funerals. 'Remember the shrimp,' they will say, and they will weep. Tough men. Strong men. Weeping. Over shrimp. That's the power you have now. You're welcome.
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