Beer Batter Shrimp

I have a folder of recipe paper cuttings from newspapers, magazines and some from back of product boxes. Today’s recipe is from a magazine Lady’s Home Journal, December edition from the 90s. I do not know where I got this recipe from as I do not remember ever buying or subscribing to a Lady’s Home Journal. I might have torn it off from the magazine from someone's house or when I was at a doctor's office 🙂 I can't recall. Anyway, this recipe called for beer to make the batter. I found that interesting as I never used beer in cooking for baking. I never got to prepare this shrimp until today. Since Valli announced Cooking from Cookbooks Challenge, this recipe has been on top of my list. I finally made it today.

I do not drink beer or even wine, as little consumption of either of these makes me tipsy. When making the batter I told U I should see if I will get high eating this shrimp, as it is made with beer. He laughed and said I was crazy. While I was frying the shrimp in batches, I tasted one fried beer batter shrimp and I totally loved it. As I was frying the rest of the shrimp, I ate of 4-5 pieces, as I liked it a lot.

Once I finished frying all the shrimp and sat down, I did not feel good. That made me wonder again, was I high on alcohol or was I just imagining? Does eating food cooked with beer get you intoxicated? I don’t know and may be not. Also, the amount of alcohol I might have consumed was very little. May be my mind played tricks on me. U always teases me about my alcohol consumption and today he seized the opportunity to teasing to the fullest extent. 😉

Coming to the shrimp, it tasted really good but it could taste the a bit of beer flavor in it. I followed the recipe as given to the most part. The only seasoning in the recipe was salt and to give it a little bit of heat, I added some black pepper powder. Also, I had to double the quantity of batter for 1 pound of shrimp. The quantity listed was not sufficient to coat all the shrimp and I had to mix the batter again to fry all the shrimp. I have listed double the original quantities. The quantities in the ingredient list ate the quantities I used to make the batter.

Source: Bubba's Beer Batter Shrimp from Ladies Home Journal
Total Time: 25 – 35 minutes
Preparation: 20 – 25 minutes
Frying Time: 6 – 10 minutes
Serves: 3-5

Ingredients:

1 lb. Shrimp with Shell (I used 26 – 30 ct. shrimp)
½ cup All Purpose Flour
½ cup Corn Starch
½ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Black Pepper Powder
½ cup Beer
4 tbsp. Butter melted
2 Egg Yolks (next time I will try using 1 whole egg instead)
Oil for deep frying

Preparation:

Peel and devein the shrimp keeping the tail intact. I bought deveined shrimp with shell on and peel the shell at home. If the shrimp is frozen, make sure it is thawed completely. Wash the shrimp, squeeze out all the water and keep it aside.
In a bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, corn starch, salt and black pepper.
In a separate bowl melt butter in the microwave. 30 second would work.
Mix butter, beer and egg in a bowl and lightly beat it.
Gradually pour the beer mixture in to the flour mixture and whisk until the batter is smooth, without any lumps.
Take oil in a deep pan and heat oil for deep frying the shrimp. The recipe says heat it to 375 F. I did not use a thermometer to check temperature of the oil.
Once the oil is hot, dip shrimp in the batter and drop it in oil. Fry the shrimp for 1-2 minutes turning it around until golden brown. Oil should be hot, if not the batter will fall of the shrimp. Fry 4-5 pieces at a time in batches.
Once the shrimp is golden brown, take it out and drain on paper towel. Serve it hot.

Note:
The shrimp is sold by count. Depending on the size of the shrimp, the count tells how many shrimp we would get of a pound. I bought a pound of 26 – 30 count shrimp, and I got 29 shrimps.

Suggestion:
Next time I make the shrimp again, I will use 1 whole egg instead of 2 egg yolks. I do not know if this would make in difference in the way the coating rises when frying.

This day in 2010 Broccoli & Egg Whites Stir Fry and Pear, Chocolate & Almond Crumble
Recipes I posted this month in 2009 and in 2010 .