Honey Walnut Shrimp
In under an hour, you can whip up this incredible honey walnut shrimp that both looks and tastes gourmet.
This flavorful Chinese takeaway classic features crispy, lightly battered shrimp in a creamy, sweet sauce, topped with delightfully sticky candied walnuts.
Ingredients
Ready to whip up some delicious honey walnut shrimp? Let’s first take a moment to understand each ingredient and its role in bringing this delightful honey walnut shrimp to life.
- Butter: Used to sauté the walnuts and to create a glossy, sticky coating.
- Walnuts: These are the stars of our dish, providing a delightful crunch and a slightly bitter counterpoint to the sweet honey coating. We want whole walnuts for the best texture.
- Sugar: This forms the base for our walnut glaze, creating a lovely caramel when mixed with honey.
- Water: A necessary component for making the glaze for our candied walnuts.
- Honey: A good quality honey goes a long way in this recipe. It’s used in both the candied walnuts and the honey mayo sauce, lending its distinctive sweetness.
- Kewpie Mayo: A Japanese-style mayo that is creamier and tangier than the western version. It forms the creamy base for our luscious honey mayo sauce.
- Condensed Milk: Adding a lovely creaminess to our sauce, it also brings in a hint of additional sweetness.
- Lemon Juice: It helps balance out the sweetness of our honey mayo sauce, providing a refreshing tang.
- Egg: A single egg is used to make our light batter for the shrimp.
- Water: Needed to create the right consistency for our batter.
- Cornflour: Cornflour makes our shrimp wonderfully crispy. If you can’t find cornflour, potato starch is an excellent alternative and will result in equally crispy shrimp.
- Shrimp: Fresh or frozen, it doesn’t matter as long as they’re completely thawed and patted dry before use.
- Sliced Scallions: These are our garnish, adding a pop of color and a mild, oniony flavor to our finished dish.
Expert Tips
- Oil Temperature: When deep frying, make sure the oil is hot enough (around 350°F or 175°C) but not smoking. If the oil is not hot enough, the shrimp will soak up the oil and become soggy instead of crispy.
- Candied Walnuts: Be cautious when caramelizing the sugar for the candied walnuts. It can easily burn if not constantly monitored. As soon as the sugar turns amber and coats the walnuts well, remove it from the heat.
Step by Step Instructions
1) Preheat your oven to 200°F (100°C). Simultaneously, heat a large pot of oil for deep frying.
2) Melt butter in a large saute pan. Add the walnuts and cook until the butter starts to brown. Mix in sugar, water, and honey, then reduce until you achieve a sticky consistency that coats the walnuts.
3) Spread out the walnuts on a baking tray lined with baking paper, ensuring they aren’t touching. Bake for 10 minutes.
4) While the walnuts are baking, prepare the honey mayo sauce. In a bowl, combine mayo, condensed milk, honey, and lemon juice. Set aside.
5) In another mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Gradually mix in cornflour, one tablespoon at a time, until you have a thin batter.
6) Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, then stir them into the batter until they’re fully coated.
7) Deep fry the shrimp in the preheated oil for 2-3 minutes. Do this in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding the pot.
8) Once fried, use a slotted or fryer spoon to transfer the shrimp to a wire rack to drain.
9) Place the fried shrimp into a large mixing bowl, then toss them with the prepared honey mayo sauce until they’re well-coated.
10) Serve the shrimp topped with the candied walnuts and a sprinkle of sliced scallions.
Storage and Leftovers
Honey Walnut Shrimp is best enjoyed fresh out of the kitchen while the shrimp are still crispy. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
For the best texture and flavor, I recommend reheating the shrimp in an air fryer, if you have one. This will help keep the shrimp crispy and prevent them from getting soggy, which happens in a microwave.
Recipe You May Like
Honey Walnut Shrimp
Ingredients
For the Batter and Shrimp:
- 400 g Shrimp cleaned and deveined
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Water
- 6 tbsp Corn flour
For the Candied Walnuts:
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 125 g Walnuts
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 tbsp Honey
For the Honey Mayo Sauce:
- 100 g Mayo
- 25 g Condensed Milk
- 25 g Honey
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
For Garnish:
- Sliced Scallions
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200°F (100°C). Simultaneously, heat a large pot of oil for deep frying.
- Melt butter in a large saute pan. Add the walnuts and cook until the butter starts to brown. Mix in sugar, water, and honey, then reduce until you achieve a sticky consistency that coats the walnuts.
- Spread out the walnuts on a baking tray lined with baking paper, ensuring they aren’t touching. Bake for 10 minutes.
- While the walnuts are baking, prepare the honey mayo sauce. In a bowl, combine mayo, condensed milk, honey, and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Gradually mix in cornflour, one tablespoon at a time, until you have a thin batter.
- Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, then stir them into the batter until they’re fully coated.
- Deep fry the shrimp in the preheated oil for 2-3 minutes. Do this in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding the pot. Once fried, use a slotted or fryer spoon to transfer the shrimp to a wire rack to drain.
- Place the fried shrimp into a large mixing bowl, then toss them with the prepared honey mayo sauce until they’re well-coated.
- Serve the shrimp topped with the candied walnuts and a sprinkle of sliced scallions. Enjoy this savory-sweet, crunchy delight!
