But all that changed after one fine day I went to P.F. Chang’s and discovered what TRULY TRULY deliciousness means. Their dynamite shrimps changed my world! And I have to say, since then, I have tried a bunch of different restaurants assuming that Dynamite shrimps are probably always good, but none compared to P.F. Chang’s. So naturally, being a home-cook I had to try make it myself. Especially after the Crispy Beijing Beef at home was such a hit! So, I tried practically 10 to 15 dynamite shrimp recipes that I could find when I googled it. But none of them even came close to the original dynamite shrimps! Some got the sauce right, some got the texture right, some got the flavor right. Which is when I decided, I have to make it myself. And so after adapting from numerous recipes, and finally tweaking it to such an extent that it no longer can be called an adaptation, I finally had a Dynamite shrimp recipe that I was proud of. Needless to stay, Shrimp night at home, is now a pretty regular deal!
MAKING THE DYNAMITE SHRIMPS
So as all my recipes go, this one is also broken down into 2 simple steps. Marinating and Dredging, Frying and Assembling. Here’s a quick to follow guide for you to visually see the recipe, and of course, a recipe card at the end of it.
STEP 1 – MARINATING AND DREDGING
You start with peeling and de-veining the shrimps, which, if I am being honest, is the worst part of cooking prawns. If this is the first time you are making shrimps at home, just buy the frozen ones which are already cleaned. Or if you need help, click here to see a quick shrimp cleaning video. Moving on, so once you’ve cleaned them, marinate the shrimps. Our marination consists of Sriracha, an egg, a little salt and pepper, a little vinegar, and some cornflour and all purpose flour, and lastly a little bit of ice cold water. Ideally the marination should last overnight. But lets say you are short on time, give it at least 2 to 3 hours
The next part is, coating the prawns in a dredging mixture. Its a simple mixture of corn flour, all purpose flour, some seasoning and garlic powder. Prepare your dredging mixture in a bowl and line a tray or plate with cling wrap. Alternatively, you can also dust a tray with a little bit of dredging mixture (This will prevent your prawns from sticking to the tray). Just coat the prawns lightly with the dredging mixture and keep collecting them on the tray. Now here’s the smart move. Cover your prawns with damp cloth for a bit (about 10 to 15 mins). This will allow your prawns to form a uniform coating and you will see after a while, that all flour particles have been absorbed to form a smooth coat.
STEP 2 – FRYING AND ASSEMBLING
Now fry these bad boys in a deep fryer for about 10 to 15 mins. (The coating takes a little longer to turn crispy golden in color) If you plan to fry them later, you can freeze the tray for 30 minutes or so and once your shrimps have frozen, you can collect them in a zip-lock bag. While your shrimp fry in the corner, prepare the amazing dynamite sauce! It’s a simple sauce using Mayo, Sriracha, Honey and Salt. I also add a little bit of orange food color to give it that shade similar to Pf Chang’s.
Once fried, toss the hot shrimps in the bowl of sauce and coat the shrimps evenly with sauce and serve!! (p.s. I didn’t cover my prawns in the picture to show you all the elements, but rest assured, I had them fully covered in sauce when I ate them) Also, covering the prawns in sauce while they are hot is the best thing to do. The sauce will get absorbed by the crunchy coating and reach that oh-sweet spot of the perfect semi-crunch texture …that we die for in PF Chang’s!
ULTIMATE DYNAMITE SHRIMPS RECIPE
If you are fan of Chinese food like I am, be sure to check out my other Chinese Recipes on the blog. If you try this, I would love to hear how it turned out for you! Leave a comment bellow to let me know!
