I’m not going to claim this is “gluten free battered prawns” recipe is my own because you can google “batter” and find millions of recipes that look roughly identical!! However, the purpose of this blog post is to:
- Share my tips & tricks – if you’re new to battering (like me!) I thought it might be useful to share my tips for getting the perfect gluten free battered prawns!
- Share a recipe that I know will definitely work!! You can use the same recipe for battered fish too. So tasty and 3 INGREDIENTS. Yup.
I AM OBSESSED.
The 10 instructions in bold and are actually really short. I’ve included all my tips with the * next to them so this might look a little long!! Don’t be put off!!!
Gluten Free Battered Prawns
It can be tricky to cook all of these prawns in the same pan at the same time so I recommend cooking in batches of approx 5 prawns, as per the instructions below.
Ingredients
- 300 ml gluten free beer - basically 1 bottle minus a big swig 😉 (roughly down to the neck of the bottle). I use Peroni
- 300-320g raw king prawns - preferably king but MUST be raw
- 225 grams gluten free self-raising flour & an extra bit for dusting
- Approx 1 litre vegetable/sunflower oil
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan. *Use a medium/high temp (mine is 7 out of 9). *Doesn't matter if you use a wok or a saucepan, as long as its DEEP. The prawns will need to be totally immersed in oil and you don't want to be filling the pan over 2/3rds full because it'll be bubbly and dangerous!
- Whilst the oil is warming up, add the flour & beer to a large mixing bowl and whisk. *You can use a balloon whisk or spoon but I think its best to use an electric whisk as you get the most air into it.*Make sure you whisk right to the bottom of the bowl as the flour tends to sit there and not mix! *Whisk until there is no lumps – 30 seconds ish!
- Place all the prawns into a bowl. Add 2 tbsp of flour to the bowl and mix around to give the prawns a good coat.*Don't miss this step! This helps the batter stick to the prawns.
- Test if the oil is hot enough to start cooking.*As a guide, it usually takes about 10 mins to heat up.*Best way to test: add a tsp of batter to the oil. It should immediately rise to the top and have little bubbles forming around it. >If it doesn't rise to the top, the oil isn't hot enough so leave it a little longer. >If it rises but then bubbles & spits very aggressively, going brown almost instantly, the oil is too hot so remove it from the heat to cool down a little. >In either of the cases above, retest the oil with a bit more batter when you think its now at the right temperature.*PICTURE – Obviously this is a latter stage but hopefully it helps to see the level of bubbles you're looking for in the oil*
- Hold a prawn by its tail (the smaller end) and dunk it into the batter so its fully coated. Hold it above the bowl for a few seconds to let any excess batter to run off.
- Carefully place the coated prawn into the oil. *Don't drop it from too high otherwise it'll spit everywhere!!
- Put a timer on for 3 mins.
- Quickly dunk another 4 or 5 prawns into the batter & then into the oil, one at a time (however many you can do in about 30 secs). *When you place the prawns into the oil, try to put them as far away from each other as possible otherwise they'll all join up! Don't worry if they do, you can separate them once they're cooked and removed from the oil.
- Leave the prawns to cook for 2 out of 3 mins on the timer then flip them over to cook on the other side for 1 min.
- Once the timer has gone off & they've turned golden brown, start removing the prawns with a slotted spoon & place onto kitchen towel to soak up the excess oil. *Begin with the brownest.
- Repeat for the steps 5-10 next batches of prawns.*Don't worry about the first batches getting cold, trust me they'll still be boiling for a good 15 mins!! *If the cooked prawns are sitting on very oily kitchen roll for a while whilst you're cooking the rest, you might want to change it for fresh to keep the prawns nice and crunchy!
Notes
20 min rule: the batter should only be sitting on the side for up to 20 mins. Any longer than that, the bubbles seem to disappear and the batter is less tasty. That means you cant save any left over batter until the next day!
Want another prawn recipe – this one is a winner – Prawn Toast!! There’s also some more tips on there for making a gluten free Chinese!!
If you want someone else to make it for you, I can recommend Naturally Chinese in Surrey.
Have you got a Chinese near you who will accommodate for your dietary requirements?! If you have 1. you’re super lucky and 2. tell me!! I’ll compile a list of them all on my blog! Contact page is here or message me on social media!
