Dredge the shrimp in flour followed by a mixture of egg and milk, and finally, cornmeal for that delicate crunchy bite. Lastly, pop them in the fryer until they've reached a crispy golden brown.
2poundsmedium shrimppeeled and deveined, tails removed
1cupall-purpose flour
1cupyellow cornmeal
1largeegg
3/4cupmilk
1TablespoonOld Bay seasoning
1teaspoonblack pepper
1teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonsmoked paprika
vegetable oilfor frying
Instructions
Rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towels.
Dredge shrimp in flour, placing them on a wire rack as you work. You can do as we did and place the flour into a bag or you can use bowls as your dredging stations.
Place egg and milk in a medium bowl. Remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and mix it with the egg and milk.
To the remaining flour, add cornmeal, Old Bay, pepper, salt, and paprika.
Dip a handful of the dredged shrimp into the egg mixture at a time and gently shake off excess. Then dip shrimp immediately into the cornmeal/flour mixture to coat. Place battered shrimp on a wire rack as you work.
Heat oil in deep fryer to 370 F. Amount of oil should be per manufacturer's instructions. You may need to cook in batches.
Place shrimp into basket of deep fryer without crowding. Fry for 2 minutes.
Lift basket and shake to ensure shrimp do not stick together. Replace basket in oil and fry for another 2 minutes.
Remove basket and allow to drain.
Dump cooked shrimp onto a paper towel lined baking pan.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Video
Notes
We used 2 pounds of shrimp that still had shells and tails and removed them ourselves. You can purchase peeled, deveined shrimp instead but may want to adjust the amount to 1.5 pounds or increase the batter ingredients.
If you plan on doubling this recipe or all of your shrimp do not fit in the deep fryer at once, place the already fried shrimp on a paper towel-lined baking pan in a single layer to rest as you fry the others. Do not stack them while they are hot otherwise they will become soggy.
If you don't have a deep fryer, you can simply use a cast iron skillet to fry popcorn shrimp. Heat the oil to 370F gauged by an instant-read thermometer. The amount of oil you will need will vary on the size of your pan. Add enough oil so that the shrimp will be submerged when added.