Camaron Rebosado (Breaded Shrimp)

Camaron Rebosado literally means "overflowing shrimp." How it became breaded shrimp, I can only guess. Lost in translation, perhaps? However you call it, this dish is something you won't get enough of. Instead of the traditional flour and cornstarch breading though, I used Panko to give it a twist.

Panko is Japanese breadcrumbs. It gives a crispy coating to fried foods, such as tonkatsu. American-made Panko are also available (such as those made by Progresso). The difference, I noticed, is that Japanese Panko is a bit finer than the coarse American ones.


I also included the sweet-sour dipping sauce in this recipe. Hubby loves it so much, that he puts the shrimps in it and ladles it like a soup.

What you need:

• Around 25 - 30 pcs of shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 2 eggs, beaten
• seasoned flour
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil, for frying

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp. vinegar
• 6 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic Chili sauce
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• Sesame oil

What to do:

Put flour in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, beat together the egg, milk and dried parsley. Put Panko in another shallow bowl. Position the three bowls like an assembly line - flour, egg mixture and Panko. Dredge the shrimp in flour first, shake off the excess flour, then dip in the egg mixture, and finally coat with Panko.

Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet. When hot, add the coated shrimp in batches so as to not overcrowd them in the pan. Fry shrimps until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to drain the oil.

To make the dipping sauce, just combine all the sauce ingredients except the sesame oil in a sauce pan. Set over medium-high heat until it thickens and the cloudy appearance disappears. Remove from heat and add a few drops of sesame oil before serving.

Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. Unless you are sure that the shrimp is freshly caught, use frozen shrimp.
2. The best way to thaw shrimps is to put them in a colander and let cold running water run through them. NEVER thaw using hot water (as it will partially cook the meat) and NEVER let them thaw on your counter as temperature above 40 degrees F is not safe for raw food and might harbor bacteria.
3. When dredging shrimps, some flour and egg mix might create a build-up on your fingers. Don't be apt to wash it away so quickly as it may serve as "gloves" that would protect the tips of your digits when you put the shrimps in the oil (holding the tail, of course). You can use tongs too, but chances are, the metal tongs will scrape the coating off your shrimps.
4. Panko burns easily, so make sure your heat is not super high, but not super low either.
5. You can use fresh chopped parsley instead of dried ones.
6. Place papers under your cooling rack to catch the dripping oil.