Ebi Furai (Japanese Panko-coated Deep-fried Shrimp)

Many Western-inspired dishes were born in Japan after the Meiji Restoration which ended its isolationist policy. Ebi furai, tonkatsu and omurice are among these dishes.

When I was just being introduced to Japanese food, I called every fried shrimp “tempura” not knowing that panko-coated fried shrimps and batter-coated fried shrimps were two distinct dishes. The first is ebi furai; the second is tempura.

Unlike tempura, ebi furai (literally, fried shrimp) is not coated in batter. Rather, you’ll need three things to coat the shrimps with: flour, beaten egg and panko.

Panko is Japanese-style breadcrumbs: flaky rather than grainy and, although more bulky in appearance, lighter in texture than Western-style breadcrumbs.

You take a cleaned shrimp, dredge it in flour, shake off the excess, dip it in beaten egg then roll it in panko.

Repeat until all the shrimps have been coated with the three ingredients.

Next comes the frying. Deep-frying. The panko coating will not acquire a uniform color and texture if the shrimps are not rolling in hot oil during cooking.

The shrimps don’t take long to cook. In fact, you don’t want to overcook them to the point where they’re all shriveled and rubbery. Scoop out the ebi furai, drain on a colander or a rack for a minute then serve.