Fried Shrimp

A favorite holiday treat in our family is fried shrimp.  It's one of those dishes that seems festive, but is deceptively simple.  I've been helping my mom make these since I was a kid, and I thought I would photo-document the process for you. 

First, I de-veined, shelled, and cleaned a few lbs of jumbo shrimp.  Make sure to leave the tail on. 

Then I decided to make some fresh bread crumbs.  My parents bring home a lot of day-old bread from their work, and we use this to make bread crumbs.  So I took pieces of bread and food processed it. 

This is what it looks like.  It's still kinda moist and soft, but I like it. 

Okay, so then you make a line-up.  Flour.

Egg (with a little salt).  Er, I didn't take a picture, but these eggs should be beaten.

And bread crumbs. 

So take each shrimp through the line-up.  Lift it by its tail and take it through the steps.  First, give it a nice coat in the flour.  Shake off the loose flour.

Then give it a dip in the egg.  Make sure you coat all of it.

Finally, take it to the bread crumb station and cover it with crumbs.  It helps if you lay the shrimp down and take a small handful of bread crumbs to coat the other side.  Pat it down.  Shake off the excess.

Like this!

Once you have taken all the shrimp through the assembly line...

Heat up a deep skillet with vegetable oil.  When the oil is hot and sizzling (use a trial shrimp), you can add several shrimp into the pan at once to cook.  Watch it bubble and turn a light brown color.

After a minute or two, you can flip it over and cook the other side.  It doesn't take too long for shrimp to cook.  A few minutes is all it takes.

It's important to regulate your oil temperature.  My mom and I don't use thermometers...we just kinda look at the shrimp itself.  If it's getting really brown really quickly, we reduce the heat to medium. 

A perfectly done shrimp looks something like this.

Put it on a paper towel and try to serve it within an hour.  That's when it's best!  Look at this thing of beauty!

If that doesn't make your mouth water, i don't know what will.

You can eat these dipped in ketchup or soy sauce.  But i'm a minimalist...i like eating it plain.

Make these for your New Year's party this year.  I promise it'll be a hit!

This week, I will be traveling the east coast!  If you are on twitter, follow me (username: sunnysideuptalk) and I'll be updating about my yummy travels regularly.  Mostly excited for the real Philly Cheesesteak I'm gonna have when i'm in Philadelphia.