At my house, seafood recipes are often on the dinner menu. My family loves garlic butter shrimp, shrimp fried rice and these irresistible bang bang shrimp. Whenever I eat at Bonefish Grill, I have to order the bang bang shrimp. Those crispy shrimp tossed in sweet and savory sauce just cannot be beat! We don’t have a Bonefish restaurant locally, so I’ve learned to make my own shrimp at home with fabulous results.
Bang Bang Shrimp Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need medium shrimp, buttermilk, cornstarch, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, vegetable oil, mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce and green onions.
How Do You Make Bang Bang Shrimp?
To make bang bang shrimp, coat your shrimp in buttermilk. Then, dredge the shrimp in a mixture of cornstarch, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Fry up the shrimp until they are golden brown. After the shrimp cook, toss them in a sauce made of mayonnaise and sweet chili sauce. The shrimp are ready to serve with some sliced green onions on top. Feel free to make a little extra of the mayo and sweet chili sauce mixture as a dipping sauce to serve on the side. I like to serve my shrimp on a bed of lettuce, but that’s optional!
Tips For The Perfect Shrimp
Use a medium size shrimp (31-40 count size) for a bite-sized appetizer. Keep the cornstarch mixture near the oil so that the shrimp go from the cornstarch to the oil without any mess. Use a frying or candy thermometer to watch the temperature of the oil. Keep the oil as close to 375 degrees F as possible. If the oil is too hot, the shrimp can burn. If the oil is too cold, the shrimp will absorb excess grease and have a heavy texture. Fry only 6-8 shrimp at a time in batches to make sure that each of the shrimp cook evenly and don’t stick together. Stir the shrimp occasionally as they fry to keep them from sticking together. If you have trouble with shrimp sticking together, try placing them in the oil one at a time. Thai sweet chili sauce is a condiment that is available in the ethnic foods aisle in most grocery stores. It has a mild heat level.
Flavor Variations
This recipe is great as-is, but you can easily customize some of the ingredients to your tastes.
Seafood: Try using calamari rings instead of shrimp for a different flavor. Add-Ins: Feel free to add some other ingredients to the bang bang sauce such as toasted sesame oil, red chili flakes or hot sauce like sriracha. Toppings: Finish the dish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, furikake seasoning or swap out the green onions for fresh cilantro.
There is a reason that this shrimp dish is so popular. The crispy shrimp coated in a creamy, sweet and spicy sauce are dynamite and really earn the name bang bang. Give this recipe a try and see how easy it is to make these shrimp at home.
