Homemade shrimp tempura with a light crispy coating paired with a delicious dipping sauce! This quick and easy shrimp tempura is made with only 6 minutes in 20 minutes and beats takeout. The crunchy batter is so addictively good!
Jump to:
Shrimp tempura features sweet shrimp coated with a light tempura batter and deep fried in hot oil. It's light, flaky and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!
Crispy tempura shrimp is a great appetizer, side or main dish that originates from Japan. You will find this seafood dish served at your Japanese restaurant.
It's paired with a sweet dipping sauce and served with sushi rice, in bento boxes, in sushi rolls like shrimp tempura roll (aka Ebiten Makizushi), udon noodle soup, ramen or tempura soba noodles.
The origins of tempura shrimp dates back to the 16th century. Missionaries of the Portuguese Catholic church brought to Japan a Western style of cooking.
This cooking style involved battering foods with flour and fry it. This was the starting point of tempura in Japan!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Jumbo Shrimp: fresh or frozen shrimp both work. I recommend black tiger shrimp for best taste or go for pacific white. Get the easy peel pre-deveined shrimp to make preparation quick and easy. Avoid using small or colossal size shrimp.
- 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.
Shrimp Batter
- Potato starch: a key ingredient to making a light tempura batter. It gives the cooked shrimp that golden brown crispy texture. Or substitute with cornstarch.
- Cake flour: this type of flour contains cornstarch which creates a crispy batter! Or substitute with ¼ cup all-purpose flour and remove ½ tablespoon it and replace with ½ tablespoon of cornstarch and mix well.
- Salt
- Cold Water: is important for the traditional wet batter to make it runny. The batter texture is very important so a cold batter offers the right viscosity and makes a huge difference! I recommend using melted ice water.
Tempura Sauce
- Tsuyu Sauce (aka Tsuyu Concentrate Soup Base): a sweet and savory dipping sauce for the shrimp tempura. This is also a Japanese sauce used in Japanese cooking for flavoring dishes, like noodles, rice and more. It's made of mirin, soy sauce, sake, bonito flakes, and kombu. You can purchase this at most Asian grocery stores or online.
- Water: to dilute the sauce.
Note: Most Asian grocers will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Buy easy peeled deveined shrimp. This will make the entire process even faster! A lot of western grocers carry this kind of shrimp.
- Pat dry your shrimp to remove moisture. This will help the batter stick better to the shrimp and prevents the hot oil from splashing back at you.
- Use melted ice water for the tempura batter! This results in the lighter and flakier coating.
- Whisk the dry ingredients of the batter first before adding water. This is the best way to encourage even distribution of the cake flour, potato starch and salt.
- Use kitchen tweezers to help you pull the shrimp out of the batter. Kitchen tweezers are better than tongs as they are smaller in surface area, so they won’t remove the batter off the shrimp while pinching.
- Make sure the oil is hot enough before you begin frying, around 350 F with a digital instant read thermometer.
- Fry in small batches and do not overcrowd the oil or the oil temperature will drop resulting in less crispy shrimp.
- Transfer hot shrimp to a cooling rack or a paper-towel lined plate to drain off excess oil which can cause soggy shrimp.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make shrimp tempura:
- First peel deveined shrimp leaving the tails on.
- To straighten the shrimp: Turn the shrimp over its back side and make small slits where the feet used to be with a knife and snap the shrimp until you feel a break. The more slits the flatter the shrimp will be.
- Then pat dry the shrimp with paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Next in a medium bowl, whisk together tempura batter ingredients until smooth and runny.
- Then mix shrimp into the batter ensuring it's fully coated.
- Next in a large heavy bottomed pan, heat vegetable oil or any neutral oil on medium high heat until you reach 350 degrees F with a digital instant read cooking thermometer. Or insert a wooden spoon into the hot oil and look for rapid bubbles. Lower battered shrimp into the hot oil away from you. Fry in small batches, about 3-4 pieces per batch.
- Then drizzle 2 teaspoon of excess batter on top of each piece of shrimp, flip it over and let this fry for 1 minute or until crispy. Then drizzle another 2 teaspoon of batter, flip over and fry for another 1 minute or until it's crispy.
- Remove fried shrimp with tongs or a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel baking sheet to allow excess oil to drip off. Repeat for the remaining shrimp.
Sauce
Lastly in a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients together and serve with tempura.
Storage
- Tempura in general is best consumed same day because it will naturally become soggy over time.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and it can last up to 3-4 days, but it will be soggy. To reheat, reheat in the air fryer or in the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes at 350 degrees F or until hot.
- Freezer-friendly? Shrimp tempura can be frozen in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. To freeze: let the shrimp cool down and then place them in a single layer in a freezer-safe bag rested on a baking sheet. Once they're frozen solid, remove the baking sheet. To reheat, flash fry from frozen or air fry from frozen until hot.
Pairing Suggestions
Shrimp tempura serves well with:
- miso soup
- Japanese crab corn salad or salad with Japanese ginger salad dressing
- over noodles, like udon noodle soup or ramen
- in shrimp tempura roll or inside maki or hand rolls
- with steamed rice and greens in a bento box
- oyakodon, katsudon, or omurice
- chicken katsu or tonkatsu
- sesame soba noodles
FAQ
Can I make this in advance?
Shrimp tempura is best enjoyed immediately but you can prepare the raw shrimp and the tempura batter a few days in advance as instructed. Store the different components in separate airtight containers in the fridge. When ready to cook, coat the shrimp in the batter and fry as instructed.
Can I use this batter on other ingredients?
Yes, feel free to use this same batter over vegetables like broccoli florets, squash, onions, or sweet potatoes.
Other recipes you may like
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Shrimp Tempura
Homemade shrimp tempura with a light crispy coating paired with a delicious dipping sauce! This quick and easy shrimp tempura is made with only 6 minutes in 20 minutes and beats takeout. The crunchy batter is so addictively good!
Ingredients
- 10 shrimp jumbo size
- 2 cups vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Batter:
- ¼ cup potato starch or cornstarch
- ¼ cup cake flour or sub with all-purpose flour but see Notes below
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup water very cold water
Dipping Sauce:
- 3 tablespoon Tsuyu Soup Concentrate
- 3 tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- First peel deveined shrimp leaving the tails on.
- To straighten the shrimp: Turn the shrimp over its back side and make small slits where the feet used to be with a knife and snap the shrimp until you feel a break. The more slits the flatter the shrimp will be.
- Then pat dry the shrimp with paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together tempura batter ingredients until smooth and runny.
- Then mix shrimp into the batter ensuring it's fully coated.
- In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat vegetable oil or any neutral oil on medium high heat until you reach 350 degrees F with a digital instant read cooking thermometer. Or insert a wooden spoon into the hot oil and look for rapid bubbles. Lower battered shrimp into the hot oil away from you. Fry in small batches, about 3-4 pieces per batch.
- Drizzle 2 teaspoon of excess batter on top of each piece of shrimp, flip it over and let this fry for 1 minute or until crispy. Then drizzle another 2 teaspoon of batter, flip over and fry for another 1 minute or until it's crispy.
- Remove fried shrimp with tongs or a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel baking sheet to allow excess oil to drip off. Repeat for the remaining shrimp.
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients together and serve with tempura.
Notes
Cake Flour Substitute:
- Measure out ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- Then remove ½ tablespoon of it
- Then replace with ½ tablespoon cornstarch. Whisk well.
Enjoyed my recipe?Please leave a 5 star review (be kind)! Tag me on social media @christieathome as I'd love to see your creations!
Suggested Equipment & Products
Nutrition
Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 305mg | Potassium: 219mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 0.3IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
A dinner that is easy to make and only takes 6 ingredients is always tempting, but those beautiful crispy shrimp make this dish an absolute must try!
Caleb - Never Ending Journeys
This shrimp tempura looks so incredibly tasty! I would love to try this over rice!
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
Thank you for this easy shrimp tempura recipe! The shrimp looks so crispy and irresistable!
Katerina | Once a Foodie
This is so much easier than other tempura recipes I've seen, Christie, thank you! I love the tip for using tweezers too - much cleaner that way!