The SECRET Behind Red Lobster's Fried Shrimp — Old Fish Market Batter for $6

The snap in restaurant fried shrimp doesn't come from the batter. It comes from half a teaspoon of something already in your cupboard, twenty minutes before the batter is mixed. In 1977 a Red Lobster opened eleven miles from our family fish market, and our Friday nights went empty. So I opened the little back window and fried shrimp out of it for eleven years, until the line ran down the side of the building. In this video: • The 20-minute step that keeps shrimp plump and snappy, never rubbery • Three tiny cuts that keep shrimp long and straight in the oil • The cold, lumpy batter that shatters instead of turning into a pancake • Which oil, what temperature, and the thermometer I clip on the pot • Why fried shrimp goes soft on paper towels, and where it goes instead • A lower-salt version, and what to do with the leftover batter The batter: ½ cup flour · ½ cup cornstarch · 1 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp paprika · pinch of cayenne · ¾ cup ice-cold club soda, stirred 10 times, lumps and all. Oil at 375°F, six shrimp at a time. Everything else from that back window, in seven books: marierizzo.com Tell me in the comments: what are the two numbers on the bag of shrimp in your freezer, and what does your family dip fried shrimp in? #friedshrimp #shrimprecipe #seafood #copycatrecipe #grandmacooking