These Vietnamese shrimp and sweet potato fritters, or bánh tôm chiên khoai lang are a bit of a labor of love. But with a little bit of effort, the delicate, crispy fritters made with thinly sliced sweet potato topped with garlicky shrimp will be a showstopper wherever they're served.
Pin Vietnamese Shrimp and Sweet Potato Fritters (Bánh Tôm Chiên Khoai Lang to try later!
This dish is usually served as an appetizer, and is super easy to make in bulk. Try bringing it to your next summer potluck!
Make sure to serve it with plenty of lettuce and herbs like mint and Thai basil, as well as some fish sauce dipping sauce, or nước mắm pha for dunking.
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🦐 Ingredients
You will need:
- Shrimp
- Fish sauce
- Garlic
- Shallot
- Sweet potates
- Rice Flour
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Pepper
- Baking Powder
- Egg
- Water
- Cooking Oil
See recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
Peel and devein your shrimp. I used shrimp with the heads on for a prettier appearance, but you can use any shrimp.
Add minced shallot, garlic, salt, pepper and fish sauce to the shrimp. Combine and let the shrimp marinate while you prepare the potatoes.
Peel and slice the potatoes into ¼ inch strips, about 2-3 inches long.
Whisk together rice flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and pepper until well combined.
Add the egg and water to the flour and whisk the batter until it's just combined. It's ok if there are a few lumps.
Add the sweet potato strips to the batter and mix thoroughly until every piece of potato is coated.
Heat enough cooking oil in large, heavy-bottomed pot or cast iron skillet to fully submerge the fritters. The oil should be about 350° Fahrenheit. Arrange the coated sweet potatoes onto a ladle, large spoon or spider strainer, and then add one shrimp. Carefully slide the pile of potatoes and shrimp into the hot oil so that the contents of the ladle remain stuck together.
Remove the fritters when they are golden brown and the shrimp is no longer gray or translucent. Place them on a wire rack or on some paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Hint: If you don't have a thermometer, you can test the temperature of the oil by sticking a wooden spoon or wooden chopstick into the oil. If it bubbles, it's ready to use.
💭 Substitutions
- Potatoes - You can use a combination of sweet potatoes and red potatoes, or Japanese sweet potatoes.
- Cornstarch - You can use potato starch instead.
- Gluten Free - I have not tested this recipe without the all-purpose flour. I would recommend using a gluten-free, all-purpose mix that you trust and have used before.
🍳 Equipment
- I like to use a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet when making shrimp and sweet potato fritters. If you have a deep fryer, you can use it, but I find it easier to slide the fritters into a cast iron skillet because the sides of the pan aren't as deep.
- A flat, wide ladle or large spoon works best to shape the fritters before they land in the oil. You could also use a spider strainer.
- Because these fritters are very loosely formed and don't stick together until they hit the hot oil, I would not recommend air-frying them.
🍚 Serving Suggestions
I like eating these as lettuce wraps with green leaf lettuce and plenty of herbs. Mint, Thai basil and cilantro are all good herbs to serve with these. The fish sauce dipping sauce is essential to the dish. You could also use storebought Thai chili sauce as a dip, but it won't be as good in my opinion.
✏️ Top tip
It might feel like a pain in the but, but cutting the sweet potatoes into very thin, small strips will make your fritters much more crispy. The thinner sweet potatoes also cook faster, which keeps the shrimp from overcooking. Spend some time chopping those potatoes!
👪 Serving Size
This recipe makes about 20-30 fritters. It'll feed 5-6 people comfortably as a meal, or 10-12 people as an appetizer.
🥡 How to make or store in advance
The shrimp can be marinated one day in advance. Cut the sweet potatoes a day in advance as well, and mix the batter the day you are cooking the fritters.
Cooked can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat them on a wire rack in the oven at 350° Fahrenheit until just warmed through, or in an air fryer.
Vietnamese Shrimp and Sweet Potato Fritters (Bánh Tôm Chiên Khoai Lang)
Ingredients
For the Shrimp
- 1 lb shrimp
- 1 shallot minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the sweet potatoes
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rice flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup cold water
- cooking oil
Instructions
- Peel and devein your shrimp. I used shrimp with the heads on for a prettier appearance, but you can use any shrimp.
- Add the minced shallot, garlic, salt, pepper and fish sauce to the shrimp. Combine and let the shrimp marinate while you prepare the potatoes.
- Peel and slice the potatoes into ¼ inch strips, about 2-3 inches long.
- Whisk together rice flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and pepper until well combined.
- Add the egg and water to the flour and whisk the batter until it's just combined. It's ok if there are a few lumps.
- Add the sweet potato strips to the batter and mix thoroughly until every piece of potato is coated.
- Heat enough cooking oil in large, heavy-bottomed pot or cast iron skillet to fully submerge the fritters. The oil should be about 350° Fahrenheit. Arrange the coated sweet potatoes onto a ladle, large spoon or spider strainer, and then add one shrimp. Carefully slide the pile of potatoes and shrimp into the hot oil so that the contents of the ladle remain stuck together.
- Remove the fritters when they are golden brown and the shrimp is no longer gray or translucent. Place them on a wire rack or on some paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
- Serve with lettuce, herbs and fish sauce dipping sauce
Notes
Nutrition
Note: Calorie count and nutrition information are an estimate only.
🦺 Food safety
- Fish and shellfish should be cooked to a minimum temperature of 145 °F (63 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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Anonymous says
The ratio of water to flour makes no sense
Suzanne Nuyen says
Hi! what was your issue with the batter? The egg also adds some moisture, and you want the batter to be relatively thick so that it easily coats all the potato pieces. I have found that 1/2 cup is enough for me. However, different brands of flour have different levels of absorption. I use King Arthur all purpose. I'm happy to help you troubleshoot if you provide a more helpful comment telling me how your dish turned out. To see more of the texture you're looking for in your batter, you can watch the recipe video here: https://www.tiktok.com/@bunbobaeblog/video/7218320876138171691
Anonymous says
No recipe for making the batter
Suzanne Nuyen says
Steps 4 and 5 tell you what to do with the ingredients for the batter.