The plump texture and crispy batter of what in Japan we call ebi-katsu, deep-fried prawn cakes, combine with an easy tartar sauce and red sweet potato chips to make a special lunch treat for kids or adults alike.
The ebi-katsu are easy once you give them a go. Though you’ll have to take some care with the battering and deep frying. Fear not!
Homemade breadcrumbs are far tastier than store-bought product. A regular loaf of store-bought sandwich bread is the easiest to work with and yields beautiful results when fried. Of course, you can use any other type of leftover bread you’ve got to hand (sourdough, bagels, etc). Simply blend in a food processor to make breadcrumbs: for tips on making homemade breadcrumbs, follow this link.
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Ebi-Katsu Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 20 peeled prawns (about 200g) (a.k.a. shrimps)
- 4 tsp potato starch (or cornstarch)
- a pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp flour (tbsp=15ml)
- 2 tsp water
- 2/3 cup bread crumbles (about 30~40g) Click here for tips on making homemade breadcrumbs.
- vegetable oil (or canola or sunflower oil) (to fill a deep pan to 3 to 4 cm from the bottom)
- 4 leaves lettuce (e.g. oak leaf) (as needed)
- spreadable butter (or margarine)
Tartar Sauce
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise (tbsp=15ml)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 piece dill pickle (small size,about 8g) (finely chopped)
- 2 tsp dill (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp flat parsley leaves (a.k.a. Italian parsley leaves) (finely chopped)
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp sugar
Red Sweet Potato Chips: click on this link for delicious red sweet potato chips
- 250 g red sweet potato
- 1~2 tbsp potato starch (or plain flour) (tbsp=15ml)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Spread the breadcrumbs out on a plate (click here for tips on making homemade breadcrumbs.).
- For the batter, crack 1 egg into a bowl and mix with 2 tsp of water and 3 tbsp of flour.
- Cut and pound half of the peeled prawns into small pieces with a knife to mince.
- Cut the other half of the prawns into small bite-size pieces (for texture, you want a mix that combines prawn mince and prawn chunks).
- Place both the minced and chopped prawns into a bowl, add 4 tsp of potato starch, salt, and pepper, and knead the mixture well until sticky.
- Divide the mixture into two, and shape into small cakes.Tip: I use a spatula to shape but if you want to use your hands, wet your hands with oil or water to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands and to make shaping easier.Tip: Shape the prawn cake mixture into cakes the same size of the bread slices you’ll insert them into for the sandwiches. They will shrink a little after frying. Be careful not to make them too large, because the larger they are, the softer they’ll be, and the more difficult to handle.
- Dip the prawn cakes into the batter, and then into the breadcrumbs.Tip: Larger cakes will tend to crumble. To prevent this, place the prawn cake on a spatula, and spread the batter over the prawn cake with a spoon. Turn the prawn cake onto the breadcrumb dish so that the coated side is on the bottom, spread the batter on the other side with a spoon, and then cover the entire prawn cake with breadcrumbs.
- When the oil in the deep fryer reaches over 160°C (but not above 170°C), gently place the breaded prawn cakes into the fryer.Tip: After heating on medium-high for a couple of minutes, when small bubbles appear on the surface of a chopstick, the oil should be at around 160°C. If you see large bubbles, the oil is too hot—reduce the heat to low.Tip: Be careful when adding the prawn cakes into the fryer as you don’t want the oil to splatter. Add the prawns in slowly and gently using a spatula.
- Fry each prawn cake for about 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy all over, and drain the oil.
- Butter the bread slices, add lettuce and deep-fried prawn cakes to make the sandwiches.
Tartar sauce:
- Mix all ingredients (mayonnaise , dijon mustard, lemon juice, sugar, chopped dill pickle, dill and flat parsley (a.k.a. Italian parsley) in a bowl.
- Cut the sandwich in half and serve with tartar sauce!
