2 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:The salt and pepper shrimp sounds very interesting, and I've heard of shrimp fried in their shells that are intended to be eaten shell and all. I actually have eaten deep fried shrimp with tail on, which is common here, and the tail is crunchy and will crumble under you teeth. Stir fried shrimp like I cooked last night do not get the shell to that state, as I found when I discovered a small piece of shell I missed and had to pick out. It is very tough and inedible. "Get out of the kitchen!", I can hear G. Ramsey screaming.
So I would infer that you are talking about a deep or shallow fried dish. I would appreciate your instruction as to how to achieve this edible crisp shell without making the flesh of the shrimp overcooked and rubbery.
It can be tricky for a home cook, and tricky for me too. Often there is a trade-off between crispy shells/heads and still-completely-succulent flesh. One needs very hot oil in a big pan (or wok) and the place will smell for a while. ;-) So I might go for a "professionally-done" dish in a restaurant sometimes instead. :-) Still, a couple of examples I've posted here on eG: here, here. One tries to select fresh shrimp with thin shells, not too large. Chilling them helps also. Cornstarch helps. A couple of recipes here, here. Folks use Sichuan peppercorns in some recipes (general search here) but I myself never have. The formerly-active prolific eGulleteer hzrt8w posted a pictorial here too. Oh, one needs to eat it while still hot. As the dish/shrimp cools and sits on the plate the shells etc get UN-crispy faster and faster. With a big plate of this stuff I often end up peeling the shells off the last few shrimps.
