I have tried many and have failed many times. I once found the perfect batter at a restaurant, only to forget the restaurant.

Have you tried tempura?

Have you tried tempura?

Have you tried tempura?

Have you fried tempura?

I have tried tempura and it is close. The one I had in the forgotten restaurant was not tempura however. They used it on shrimp and onion rings. The batter at Fish Daddy's is close.

Soak shrimp in regular whole milk (not buttermilk) for a minute or two

Remove shrimp from milk and coat in a self-rising flour (or you can use a mixture of all purpose flour and baking soda) and your preference of seasoning

Shake off excess batter and drop into a high smoke point oil at a temp in the 360-380 range. Don't crowd the fryer

Pull and rest on paper towels for a few minutes and then eat

I like to add cayenne to the milk mixture

The combo of dry batter, milk instead of butter milk/egg wash, and the self rising flour will make for a light batter and let the taste of the seafood shine through

I don't know proportions, but maybe AustinAgChef will help out. This is his recipe. Best fried shrimp I've had.

Rice Flour
Tempura
Tapioca Starch
Corn Starch
Of course S&P, etc.

The sauce he serves it with is amazing as well. Not sure he'll share that one though.

They key to a thin/light batter is having a fairly thin egg/milk/seasoning mixture and using seasoned self-rising flour. Sift the flour prior to use as well.

Dip in egg wash and dredge in flour mix and straight into the hot oil. Thicker the egg/milk mix, the more flour sticks and thus makes a heavier batter.

1 cup rice flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup tempura flour
2 cups tapioca starch
2 ounces kosher salt

Mix all ingredients together until well blended.

Dip shrimp in whole milk and then coat in flour mixture, shaking off excess flour before placing in fryer.


[This message has been edited by AustinAgChef (edited 5/22/2014 10:20p).]

^Good Boy...I knew you'd show up and finish her off. Sauce?

The sauce is super easy. Mae Ploy sweet chile sauce, lime juice and chopped cilantro.

^I've been making this sauce for 6 or 7 years now. Takes about 5 minutes (if that), and it's fantastic.

I am definitely going to try that sauce.

Do you mix everyhing cold? Or mix hot? Do you serve cold or hot?

Mix everything cold and serve cold as well.

Can anyone give me a little color on the breakdown of the ingredients on the sauce? Got a big party tonight and wanna get it right. Thanks!

Well I winged it and it was awesome, big hit. Thanks for the recipe.

What mix/proportions did you use?

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What mix/proportions did you use?

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Honestly, the ingredients are awesome and hard to screw up. I've never once measured. If I had to guess, I would use about two cups of sweet thai chile sauce, juice of one lime and quarter cup fresh cilantro. I could be way off though. Just do it to taste.

1 cup good beer
1 cup flour
2 tsp Zattarain's creole seasoning
Panko Bread Crumbs

Mix beer, flour, and seasonings. Let sit for 15 minutes. Dip shrimp, roll in bread crumbs, fry, thank me later.

What does pappadeaux use? It's like fine Panko and corn meal or something.