Panko Shrimp aka Ebi Fry. Delicious shrimp seasoned and coated in panko crumbs and fried and served with a sriracha mayo sauce. Great as the perfect appetizer, side dish or main dish. Ready in under 20 minutes!
Crunchy shrimp is hands down one of my favorite ways to enjoy this wonderful seafood! The juicy shrimp surrounded by a crispy coating of panko breadcrumbs paired with a spicy sriracha mayo sauce makes for a delicious dish! The best part is that it's easy to make at home.
What is Panko Shrimp?
Panko fried shrimp (aka Ebi Fry) is a Japanese-style tasty dish. It's a breaded shrimp that is seasoned with salt, black pepper and garlic powder and coated in beaten egg and panko bread crumbs.
The panko breading is an iconic Japanese ingredient. These Japanese breadcrumbs are lighter in texture and crispier over regular breadcrumbs. Panko breadcrumbs are made of white bread that is finely separated into flakes and dried. They have a much drier and flakier texture thus creating a crunchy coating. Panko can now be purchased widely at many grocery stores, and they even come in a gluten-free version!
This tasty dish can be great appetizers for party food. It also is a great main meal or main course. It's one of my favorite sides!
Other Dipping Sauces
My favorite dipping sauce is sriracha mayo, however if you're not a fan of spice, feel free to pair this crispy panko shrimp with tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, honey mustard, sweet Thai chili sauce, or tonkatsu sauce.
Easy Recipe
This is one of my favorite shrimp recipes because it's so easy and quick! The cooking time only takes 3 minutes per batch! Most of the time goes towards preparing the shrimp.
If it's your first time making this, I share step-by-step directions with visuals and a video. This is the best way to make this dish and its pretty fail-proof if you follow my instructions.
Ingredients
You’ll need the below simple ingredients for my panko shrimp recipe. Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
Note: Most Asian grocers will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
- Frozen or Fresh shrimp: We want to use thawed raw shrimp. Jumbo size or any large shrimp will work. You may use a larger shrimp than jumbo, but this will take a couple more minutes to fry. Smaller shrimp will also work but reduce the cooking time or until the shrimp curl. The size of the shrimp is up to you, but the jumbo size works best!
- Avoid using extra large shrimp like colossal size. The perfect shrimp breed for this black tiger but feel free to use what you have available to you.
- Panko breadcrumbs: most grocery stores will carry these breadcrumbs. I would advise using any kind imported from Japan or Korea for best texture. If you can’t find them, substitute with regular breadcrumbs.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils.
- Large egg: this will be used to make the panko stick to the shrimp.
- Lemon wedges: optional for serving.
Flour mixture:
- Cornstarch or potato starch: this makes the coating a little bit crunchier rather than just using all purpose flour
- All purpose flour
- Salt: to season our shrimp
- Garlic powder: to add a garlicky flavor to our shrimp.
- Black pepper: to season our shrimp.
Dipping sauce:
- Japanese mayo: or substitute with normal mayo. Japanese mayo (aka Kewpie mayo) is much creamier.
- Sriracha sauce: or substitute with any hot sauce of your choice
If you're not a fan of spicy sriracha mayo, try pairing this panko shrimp with tartar sauce, tonkatsu sauce or sweet Thai chili sauce.
How to Make Panko Shrimp
Peel deveined shrimp and pat dry with paper towels.
In a medium bowl, mix Flour mixture ingredients as listed above.
In a small bowl, crack and beat the egg.
In a baking sheet or shallow dish, spread panko breadcrumbs in a single layer.
Place shrimp into flour coating first and coat well. Shake off any excess flour.
Then coat with beaten egg.
Lastly, generously coat with panko breadcrumbs. Make sure there are no bald spots for best results.
In a large frying pan or deep fryer, heat enough oil over medium-high heat or 350 degrees F.
Once you have hot oil, in small batches (4-6 pieces) deep fry shrimp for 2-3 minutes or until you have a gorgeous golden brown color, flipping over halfway. Do not overcrowd the pan. An easy way to tell when shrimp is cooked is when they're fully curled. The internal temperature of cooked shrimp is 145 degrees F with a digital instant read cooking thermometer.
Transfer the first batch of fried shrimp to a wire rack for excess oil to drip off. Repeat for the remaining shrimp.
In a bowl, combine Japanese mayo and sriracha sauce. Enjoy with shrimp and fresh lemon juice (optional).
Storage
Panko shrimp is best consumed same day while it's still crunchy. But leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container. To reheat, lightly spray with cooking spray or neutral oil and bake in the oven or place them in a single layer in the air fryer basket and air fry at 350 degrees F for 4-5 minutes.
FAQ
What's the best kind of shrimp to use?
I like using black tiger shrimp, but any large or jumbo size shrimp will work.
Is Panko Shrimp the same as Shrimp Tempura?
Panko shrimp is similar to shrimp tempura in the sense that the base of both recipes is shrimp. However, it's the crispy coating of each recipe that differentiates them. Panko shrimp is coated in panko breadcrumbs. Whereas shrimp tempura is coated in a light tempura batter made of cake flour and potato starch with water and salt. The tempura style is much lighter and flakier in texture. Panko is denser but crunchier. Both are equally delicious in different ways.
Where can I buy panko?
Most Western grocery stores now sell this ingredient, but you can find it at Asian grocers or online, on Amazon.
Can I make this in the air fryer?
Yes, follow these instructions:
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F.
- Place breaded shrimp into air fryer basket in a single layer giving each piece enough room. Lightly spray with any neutral oil.
- Air fry on the first side for 4 minutes. Flip over, lightly spray with neutral oil and air fry for another 4 minutes until golden brown.
Other recipes you may enjoy!
If you enjoyed this shrimp recipe, you may enjoy these other shrimp recipes:
Easy Panko Shrimp
Ingredients
- ½ lb shrimps jumbo size
- 1 ¼ cup Panko or as needed
- 2 cups Vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- 1 large egg beaten
- Lemon wedges optional for serving
Flour Mixture:
- 2 tablespoon Potato starch or cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Dipping sauce:
- ¼ cup Japanese mayonnaise or regular mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon sriracha sauce
Instructions
- Peel deveined shrimp and pat dry with paper towels.
- In a small bowl, crack and beat the egg.
- In a medium bowl, mix Flour mixture ingredients as listed above.
- In a baking sheet or shallow dish, spread panko breadcrumbs in a single layer.
- Place shrimp into flour mixture first and coat well. Shake off any excess flour. Then coat shrimp with beaten egg, and lastly with panko breadcrumbs. Make sure there are no bald spots for best results.
- In a large frying pan or deep fryer, heat enough oil over medium-high heat or 350 degrees F. (To air fry, see below Notes for instructions)
- Once oil is hot, in small batches (4-6 pieces) deep fry shrimp for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown, flipping over halfway. Do not overcrowd the pan. Note: To tell when shrimp is cooked is when they're curled. The internal temperature of cooked shrimp is 145 degrees F with a digital instant read cooking thermometer.
- Transfer the first batch of fried shrimp to a wire rack for excess oil to drip off. Repeat for the remaining shrimp.
- In a bowl, combine Japanese mayo and sriracha sauce. Enjoy with shrimp and fresh lemon juice (optional).
Notes
Can I make this in the air fryer?
Yes, follow these instructions:- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F
- Place breaded shrimp into air fryer basket in a single layer giving each piece enough room. Lightly spray with any neutral oil.
- Air fry on the first side for 4 minutes. Flip over, lightly spray with neutral oil and air fry for another 4 minutes until golden brown.
Did you enjoy my recipe?