Camaron rebosado

Butterflied prawns in a pale puffed batter, straightened so they fry flat.

Shellfish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains shellfish.

Ingredients

• 20 large prawns, shelled with the tails left on
• 80 g cornflour
• 80 g plain flour
• 2 egg whites
• 180 ml ice-cold water
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 0.5 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornflour, for dusting
• oil, for deep frying

Method

1. STRAIGHTEN THEM OR THEY CURL. Shell the prawns leaving the tail fan on, slit down the back without cutting through, take the vein out, then make three shallow nicks across the belly and press each prawn flat on the board. A prawn that has not been nicked pulls itself into a ring in the oil and the batter cracks off the outside of the curve.
2. Pat them completely dry, then dust with the 2 tablespoons of cornflour. Batter slides straight off a wet prawn.
3. Whisk the egg whites to a loose froth, not peaks.
4. Mix the cornflour, plain flour, salt and pepper, then whisk in the ICE-COLD water and the whites, briefly, leaving a few lumps. Overworked batter goes elastic and fries heavy; cold batter hitting hot oil is what puffs it.
5. Oil to 180C. Too cool and the batter drinks oil and goes beige; too hot and it colours before the prawn is done.
6. Hold each prawn by the tail, draw it through the batter leaving the tail bare, and lower it into the oil tail-last, holding it straight for two seconds before letting go. That is what sets the shape.
7. Four at a time, 2 to 2 minutes 30, turning once. They should stay PALE -- a straw colour, not brown. This batter is meant to be light and a browned one tastes of flour.
8. Drain on a rack, never on paper, which steams the underside soft.
9. Serve with banana ketchup, or with vinegar and crushed garlic.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes