Red Lobster Crispy Dragon Shrimp

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Crispy-and-sauced is a contradiction, and the whole skill is in managing how long the two are in contact and at what temperature.

Do not return the shrimp to the pan. A hot pan of sauce generates steam, and steam turns a fried coating soft in seconds. Instead, take the sauce off the heat, pour it into a large cold bowl, add the shrimp, and toss for five seconds.

That is enough to coat them and short enough that the coating survives to the table.

The coating: cornflour, not just flour

Cornflour contains no gluten and it fries into a lighter, more brittle shell than plain flour does. It also browns less, which is why the result is pale gold and crisp rather than dark and bready.

A mixture, about two parts cornflour to one part plain flour, gets you brittleness plus enough structure to hold onto the shrimp.

Double dredge

Wet, dry, wet, dry. A single pass gives a thin coating that soaks through the moment sauce touches it.

Dredge in the flour mixture, dip back into the buttermilk, and dredge again. The second layer is what gives the craggy surface that holds sauce without collapsing.

The sauce is sweet, hot and thick

Sweet chilli as the base, sriracha for heat, a little mayonnaise for body and cling. It needs to be thick — a thin sauce runs off and pools, which puts the shrimp in a puddle, which is the other way the coating dies.

Reduce it until it coats a spoon before it comes off the heat.

What you need

Shrimp

• 700 g large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 240 ml buttermilk
• 120 g cornflour
• 60 g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• neutral oil for frying

Sauce

• 120 ml sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tbsp sriracha
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 spring onions and 1 tbsp sesame seeds, to serve

Method

1. Pat the shrimp dry, then soak in the buttermilk for 10 minutes.
2. Whisk the cornflour, plain flour, salt, garlic powder and white pepper.
3. Dredge, dip back in the buttermilk, dredge again. Press the coating on.
4. Rest the coated shrimp on a rack for 5 minutes.
5. Sauce: whisk everything together in a small pan over a low heat, 3–4 minutes, until it thickens. Take it off and pour it into a large bowl.
6. Heat oil to 190°C. Fry the shrimp 2–3 minutes, in batches, until pale gold and crisp.
7. Drain on a rack for 30 seconds.
8. Into the bowl with the sauce. Toss 5 seconds. Serve immediately.
9. Spring onions and sesame seeds over the top.

A large bowl, not a small one

Room to toss means fewer passes. In a crowded bowl you end up stirring, which takes longer and knocks coating off.

Cold bowl, straight from the cupboard. A warmed serving dish is working against you here.

190°C, and small batches

Shrimp cook in two to three minutes and the coating needs to set fast. Cooler oil means longer in the pan, which means the shrimp overcook while the coating absorbs oil.

Six to eight shrimp at a time in a normal pan.

Storing

They do not store. This is a dish with a five-minute life.

The sauce keeps two weeks in the fridge and is worth making ahead — it is good on plain grilled chicken too.