Tortillitas de Camarones

Crispy shrimp fritters with spring onions are a delicious tapas or great with a salad for a light summer meal.

Recipe | August 2018

Ingredients

300g Camarones, whole raw unshelled small prawns or shrimp
175g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp dry white wine

2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Olive oil, for shallow frying

1.

Peel the shrimps, then add them to a saucepan, fill with enough water to cover the shrimp and bring to the boil over a high heat. When the water begins to boil, lift out the shrimp from the saucepan using a slotted spoon and leave to one side to cool. When the shrimp are cool, cover and refrigerate until needed.

2.

To make the batter, sift the flour, baking powder, smoked paprika and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add 300ml water and the wine. Gradually mix the ingredients together, then whisk until you have a thick cream.

3.

Mix in the shrimps, spring onions and parsley.

4.

Pour the olive oil to a depth of about 2cm into a heavy sauté pan and heat over high heat until it is almost smoking. Carefully drop large spoonfuls of the batter into the pan and spread each one out a little with the back of the spoon so they develop lovely thin, crispy edges as they cook. Fry each side for about one minute.

5.

Lift out the fritters with a slotted spoon, and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain off excess oil. Fry the rest of the batter in the same way, two or three fritters at a time, always making sure the oil is very hot before frying more fritters.