Ebi Furai
Panko-crumbed fried prawns with tonkatsu sauce.
Ingredients
- 500 g Shrimp
- 120 g Panko
- 2 Egg
- 60 g All-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp Okonomiyaki sauce
- 400 ml Neutral oil
- ½ tsp Salt
Method
- Butterfly the prawns (slit the belly and press flat so they fry straight, not curled) and season with the salt.
- Set the oil heating in a deep pan to 175C (350F) for frying while you bread the prawns.
- While the oil heats, set out three dishes — flour, beaten egg, and panko — and coat each prawn in flour, then egg, then panko, pressing the crumbs on.
- Fry the breaded prawns in the hot oil until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes, then drain on a rack.
- Serve hot with the sauce for dipping.
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About Ebi Furai
Ebi furai are Japanese deep-fried prawns coated in panko, a signature dish of yoshoku — the Western-influenced style of Japanese cooking that also gave us tonkatsu and korokke. The prawns are breaded in the standard flour-egg-panko sequence and fried until the coating turns golden and shatteringly crisp, while the prawn inside stays sweet and tender. What distinguishes them from a generic fried shrimp is the panko itself: the coarse, dry Japanese breadcrumb fries up lighter and crunchier than fine Western crumbs.
A small but crucial technique here is butterflying and pressing the prawns flat before breading, which keeps them from curling in the oil so they fry straight and look neat on the plate. They're typically eaten dipped in tonkatsu-style sauce — a thick, fruity, tangy-sweet condiment — which cuts the richness of the fry. Served hot as an appetizer or as part of a set meal alongside rice, shredded cabbage, and miso soup, ebi furai are the kind of dish that reads as a treat but takes only about twenty-five minutes. Draining them on a rack rather than paper keeps the underside from going soggy, preserving that all-important crunch.
Ebi Furai: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Ebi Furai?
A serving has about 438 calories — 34g protein, 39.4g carbs, 15.9g fat, 1.4g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 34g of protein, roughly 31% of its calories.
Is Ebi Furai gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Panko, All-purpose flour, Okonomiyaki sauce. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for those ingredients to make it gluten-free.
How long does Ebi Furai take to make?
About 25 minutes start to finish, but only around 14 of those are hands-on — the rest is cooking time. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Ebi Furai make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.