Tender seafood in a crisp crust is a wonderful treat. Sadly, commercially-packaged battered fish and poor frying techniques have convinced many consumers that fried fish in batter is greasy and tasteless.
Cooked at home, batter-coated seafood is a completely different, delicious dish.
Shrimp Fry (not just for shrimp!) makes producing batter-fried treats easy and full of flavor.
Use a deep-fryer or a heavy-bottomed deep frying pan into which you can put at least 2 inches of cooking oil. Avoid heating oil over temperatures listed in deep-fryer directions. For a deep frying pan follow directions on Shrimp Fry package. (Overheated oils or oils used to fry too many pieces of seafood develop an off-flavor and other qualities that contribute to batter-frying’s “bad rep.”
If cooking large batches, set your oven on warm and line a rimmed cookie sheet with paper towels to hold already-cooked portions while you fry the rest. Overcrowding the fryer results in soggy batter and overcooked seafood.
What can you batter-fry? Shrimp, of course. Try chunks of lobster-tail meat, scallops, and pieces of any firm filet:
Catfish, buffalo, ocean perch, yellow perch, pickerel, red snapper, tilapia, orange roughy, pangasius.
Serve with tartar sauce, chili sauce, horseradish-mayonnaise, or your family’s favorite dipping sauce.
