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Feather-light batter and sweet seafood meet in shrimp tempura, one of the highlights of Japanese cuisine. The shrimp stay perfectly juicy inside while the delicate batter turns airy and crisp outside. It’s quick and easy, and the result is a light, crunchy batter shell around tender shrimp, boasting that peak crunch and gorgeous golden brown finish you love at top sushi bars or Japanese restaurants.
Make your own shrimp tempura with cake flour, ice water and a cold, gently mixed batter for a thin, crisp shell over tender shrimp and delicious golden results.
Also try Cajun shrimp pasta, General Tso shrimp stir fry, Mediterranean shrimp linguine, Panda Express style steak and shrimp, and shrimp spring rolls.
Why You’ll Love It
Classic texture: Cake flour and cold mixing give a thin, glassy crust that stays light.
Clean flavor: Neutral oil and quick frying let the seafood shine.
Repeatable method: Simple cues and small batches keep results consistent.
Fast win: Short prep and quick frying bring restaurant crunch home.
Crispy Shrimp Tempura Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Fresh shrimp: Use large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails on for easy handling.
Salt: Just a small pinch seasons the batter without weighing it down.
Cake flour: Low-protein flour that fries into a delicate, crisp coating. Although rice flour is a more common choice when making classic shrimp tempura, I love the slight chew the cake flour gives.
Ice cold water: Very cold water keeps the batter chilled so gluten stays low and bubbles stay airy.
Egg: Binds the batter lightly for a smooth, thin shell.
Cooking oil: Neutral oil for frying, such as canola oil, topped up as needed for steady depth.
How to Make Easy Shrimp Tempura
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Straighten the shrimp: Make shallow cuts along each belly, press gently so they lie flat, then pat dry.
Make the batter: Whisk ice water with egg, then press cake flour and salt in gently so small lumps remain.
Heat the oil: Warm a deep fryer or high sided skillet with enough oil for frying so pieces can float and move freely.
Coat the shrimp: Hold by the tail, dip in cold batter and let excess drip so the coating stays thin.
Fry the first batch: Lower belly side up into hot oil and fry until the crust sets and turns pale golden brown.
Drain well: Lift out with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel lined plate or a rack to drain excess oil.
Finish the rest: Skim stray crumbs, keep the batter cold and repeat with the remaining shrimp.
Substitutions and Variations
Gluten-free batter: Use rice flour with a little cornstarch and serve with tamari based dipping sauce. Traditional shrimp tempura uses rice flour for a very light batter.
Sparkling water batter: Swap part of the ice water for plain sparkling water for extra lift.
Vegetable tempura: Batter thin slices of sweet potato, broccoli and green beans and fry those too for a mixed tempura platter.
Tempura dipping sauce: Mix soy sauce with a little mirin and dashi, then add grated daikon radish.
Frozen shrimp: You can use frozen shrimp for tempura as long as they’re raw, fully thawed and very dry. Thaw them in the fridge overnight or under cold running water, then pat them dry with paper towels to prevent soggy batter and oil splatter. Avoid pre-cooked shrimp since they turn rubbery, and skip any with freezer burn because they won’t fry evenly or taste fresh.
Serving Suggestions
As an appetizer: Drizzle sriracha sauce over the shrimp and serve with a sweet and sour sauce, soy-based dipping sauce or homemade eel sauce. The recipe will serve about 4 people as an appetizer, as it makes 16 shrimp tempura. You could follow up with seafood lasagna or fritto misto to continue the seafood theme.
As a main dish: Pair shrimp tempura with sushi rolls or hibachi rice. For a meat element, serve hibachi steak or, for something lighter, miso chicken soup.
Dessert: Finish up with a jiggly Japanese cheesecake or this 2-ingredient dragon fruit ice cream.
How to Store Ebi Tempura
Store: Shrimp tempura is best enjoyed immediately but if you have leftovers, refrigerate on paper towels in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Freeze: This isn’t suitable for freezing. The coating softens and loses its crisp texture after thawing.
Reheat: Re-crisp on a rack in a 375°F oven or an air fryer until hot and crunchy again. Don’t microwave as this makes the tempura coating soggy.
Top Tips
Keep it cold: Rest the batter bowl over ice so it stays chilled between batches. Don’t have it near the stove as it gets too runny if warm.
Press, don’t stir: Press flour into the liquid so lumps remain and gluten stays low.
Pat shrimp dry: Dip dried shrimp into the batter so you don’t have oil splattering later.
Belly side up: Fry belly side up so the shrimp stay straight and the coating sets evenly.
Trim tail tips: Snip sharp tail tips to avoid trapped water popping in hot oil.
Skim crumbs: Remove dark bits of floating batter so the oil stays pale and clean-tasting.
Work in small batches: Too many pieces cool the hot oil and make the coating heavy.
Crispy Ebi Shrimp Tempura FAQs
The cold batter should be thin and slightly lumpy, so it fries into a light, crisp shell.
A deep fryer is convenient, but a sturdy high sided skillet works if you monitor oil depth and temperature.
Small cuts relax the muscle so each shrimp stays straight and cooks evenly.
Shrimp Tempura Recipe
Shrimp Tempura
Equipment
- Skillet or Deep Fryer
Ingredients
- 16 shrimp, large, peeled, deveined, tail shell left on
- ¼ Teaspoon salt
- ⅔ Cup + 2 Tablespoons cake flour
- ⅔ Cup ice water
- 1 egg, large
- cooking oil, as needed
Instructions
- Cut shallowly along each shrimp’s belly to stop them curling up.
- Press them flat until they pop and stay relaxed.
- Trim the sharp tail tip (it’s best to remove the spiky shell at the end of the tail for safety and appearance).
- Whisk the ice water and egg in a bowl until just combined.
- Add the cake flour and salt, using chopsticks or a fork to gently press this into the mixture. Don’t overmix.
- Heat cooking oil in a skillet, pot or deep fryer to between 340 and 350°F.
- The oil is ready when a drip of batter sizzles and floats quickly without burning and the surface shimmers.
- Dip each shrimp in the batter to coat evenly.
- Add each shrimp belly up to the hot oil.
- Fry for 1 ½ minutes or until crispy and golden.
- You can also drizzle leftover batter into the oil to make crunchy pieces for decoration. This is optional.
- Remove the shrimp with a spider skimmer and drain on paper towels over a wire rack, then serve.
Notes
Press, don’t stir: Press flour into the liquid so lumps remain and gluten stays low.
Pat shrimp dry: Dip dried shrimp into the batter so you don’t have oil splattering later.
Belly side up: Fry belly side up so the shrimp stay straight and the coating sets evenly.
Trim tail tips: Snip sharp tail tips to avoid trapped water popping in hot oil.
Skim crumbs: Remove dark bits of floating batter so the oil stays pale and clean-tasting.
Work in small batches: Too many pieces cool the hot oil and make the coating heavy.
Nutrition
Follow these cues and you’ll plate crisp fried shrimp with gentle crunch and sweet perfectly cooked seafood inside. Keep the batter cold, fry in small batches and drain well to hold that pale, golden finish you get at the sushi restaurant. Once you dial in the technique, shrimp tempura becomes a reliable, crowd pleasing staple.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
