Bánh Tôm Chiên (Vietnamese Shrimp and Sweet Potato Fritters)

Banh tom chien with nuoc mam and do chua.

Bánh Tôm Chiên (Vietnamese Shrimp and Sweet Potato Fritters)

This bánh tôm chiên (Vietnamese shrimp and sweet potato fritters) brings a classic Vietnamese street food straight to your kitchen, with crispy sweet potato and taro, juicy shrimp, and a light turmeric batter that fries up perfectly golden every time!

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Resting time30

Total Time1 10

Course: Appetizer, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Servings:

Calories: 147kcal

Ingredients

Shrimp

12 oz large shrimp shell-on, cleaned and legs trimmed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Fritter Batter

10 oz sweet potato
10 oz taro
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup rice flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ bouillon cube
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup sparkling water
¾ cup cold water

Instructions

Make the batter

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, rice flour, salt, turmeric, and black pepper. Crumble in the bouillon cube and whisk again to break it up. Whisk in the sparkling water and cold water until smooth. The batter should be slightly thick, similar to pancake batter but thinner. Set aside and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup rice flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ bouillon cube, ½ teaspoon turmeric, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 cup sparkling water, ¾ cup cold water

Prep the shrimp

While the batter rests, clean the shrimp and trim off the legs, keeping the shell and tail on. Pat completely dry and season with ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper.
12 oz large shrimp, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Prep the veggies

Slice the sweet potato and taro into matchsticks, close to a thicker julienne. Thoroughly rinse them under cold water to wash off the starch and pat dry.
10 oz sweet potato, 10 oz taro
Once the batter has rested, add the julienned vegetables and toss to coat. The batter should evenly coat the vegetables but not so much that you can't see the color of the sweet potato and taro. If the batter is too thick, thin it out by whisking in a little bit of cold water.

Fry the fritters

In a large pot or skillet, heat about 1 inch of neutral oil to 350F. There should be enough oil to shallow fry.
Using tongs or chopsticks, place some of the battered sweet potato and taro onto a heat-safe spatula or flat-ish spoon (wooden or metal). Using tongs or chopsticks helps so you don't pick up excess batter. Place the vegetables on top of each other to create two layers. Dip a piece of shrimp into the batter and place it right on top. While carefully holding the vegetables and shrimp in place with your tongs, tilt the spatula to drain off excess batter. Too much extra batter will keep the fritter from staying crispy.
Lower the spatula into the hot oil and gently push the fritter off into the oil. Since it's a shallow fry, the shrimp should sit just slightly above the oil line, letting the bottom get super crispy first. Fry in batches as to not overcrowd the pan. Fry on one side for 4-5 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Give it a flip to finish cooking through, about 30 seconds to a minute or until the shrimp is crispy and lightly golden. Remove from oil and drain upside down on a wire rack. Enjoy with lettuce and herbs and dipped in nuoc cham!

Video

Notes

Use shell on shrimp! This allows the batter to stick to the shrimp and to the taro and sweet potatoes. It also helps give an extra layer of crunch!
Pat the shrimp dry! Moisture is the enemy of crispiness, so make sure the shrimp is dry before coating in the batter.
Drain off excess batter from the spatula before frying. It might feel natural to let the batter pool on the spatula you're using to transfer the battered vegetables to the fryer, but tilt the spatula and let excess batter run off of it. This will keep the fritter light and crispy!
Make a couple layers of the sweet potato and taro mixture on the frying spatula and add the battered shrimp on top! The layers will keep most of the shrimp out of the oil, allowing the shrimp to cook slower while giving time for the sweet potato and taro to get golden and crispy.
Shallow fry in a large pan, so the pan doesn't get overcrowded and the fritters don't float around. You only need about an inch of oil!
Heat your oil until at least 350F. Anything lower than this will cause the batter to absorb the oil instead of getting golden brown and crispy.
Fry it in avocado oil for a cleaner and lighter fry.
Fry it until it's golden brown and crispy.
Let it cool on a wired rack. This will allow excess oil to drain off, drying the fried shrimp and keeping it crispy. I like to drain it upside down on the wired rack, since we finish cooking the shrimp by flipping it over before removing.

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