Japanese Style Popcorn Shrimp

This kara-age popcorn shrimp recipe is crispy, crunchy and flavoted with ginger and soy sauce.

We got our first snow fall yesterday. That combined with the tail end of my cold meant that I stayed in pajamas the entire day until showering at 8pm only to put said pajamas back on

I watched 1 episode of Mad Men, 3 episodes of Breaking Bad, played about 20 rounds of words with friends (new addiction) and made popcorn shrimp.

We got our first snow fall yesterday. That combined with the tail end of my cold meant that I stayed in pajamas the entire day until showering at 8pm only to put said pajamas back on

I watched 1 episode of Mad Men, 3 episodes of Breaking Bad, played about 20 rounds of words with friends (new addiction) and made popcorn shrimp.

Saturdays rock.

I kind of cheated though with the whole “popcorn” thing. Not really cheating, more like taking the Sandra Lee approach. We’ll call this semi-homemade popcorn shrimp instead.

I’m sure you’ve never heard of kara-age because I sure as heck hadn’t prior to this, but it’s basically Japanese shake and bake. Or, what I’m assuming shake and bake is like because I’ve never actually tried it. It’s simple though, you just pour the breading mixture into a plastic bag, toss your shrimp in there, close it, shake it up and pan fry.

The flavor is distinctly Japanese with the amount of ginger in it. Opening the bag will definitely clear your sinuses!

I used to waitress at a restaurant in my hometown on the lake during the summer in college. One of the appetizers was popcorn shrimp with a cajun remoulade. Hands down my favorite thing on the menu. I never witnessed any of the kitchen staff spitting in the food, picking things up off the floor or any of that other gross stuff you fear happens to your food behind the kitchen doors (besides that one time the owners got a cigarette butt in their new england clam chowder), but I will say that many an appetizer plate had a few shrimp picked off the top before being run to the tables.

They were just premade frozen shrimp that came in a huge bag and got dropped into the fryer but damn, they tasted good after 8 hours on your feet running between tables, the bar, the kitchen and not eating until 11pm at night.

These turned out even better than those because they actually had a distinct flavor to them thanks to the ginger and soy sauce in the breading mix. I made an avocado, cilantro dip to go with it which ended up being the perfect complement to the ginger flavor.

A great snack in the middle of our Breaking Bad pajama marathon.

Kara-Age Popcorn Shrimp with Avocado Cilantro Dip

Author: Gina Matsoukas

This kara-age popcorn shrimp recipe is crispy, crunchy and flavoted with ginger and soy sauce.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

  

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Popcorn Shrimp

• 10 large shrimp cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 package Kikkoman Kara-age mixture
• 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 green onion chopped for garnish (optional)

Avocado Cilantro Dip

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 teaspoon cilantro minced
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt & pepper to taste
• sriracha for garnish optional

Instructions

 

Popcorn Shrimp

• Place Kara-age mixture into a plastic zip bag.
• Add shrimp to bag, close and shake until shrimp at fully coated with mixture.
• Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
• Once hot, add shrimp to pan.
• Cook for 2 minutes, flip and cook on other side until golden brown.
• Remove from skillet and drain on paper towel.
• Serve immediately and garnish with green onion if using.

Avocado Cilantro Dip

• Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mash together.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1SERVING | Calories: 365kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 133mg | Sodium: 578mg | Potassium: 390mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 391IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 1mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For the most precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator based on the actual ingredients you used in the recipe.

Cuisine Japanese

Course Appetizers

Keyword Japanese popcorn shrimp, kara-age popcorn shrimp

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*I received the Kikkoman Kara-age sample through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program.

Gina Matsoukas

About

Gina Matsoukas is the writer, founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients as much as possible. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.