Crispy panko king prawns smothered in a creamy, spicy bang bang sauce.
This dish makes such a fantastic lunch or appetizer!
I’ll show you how to make these baked OR fried!
This dish takes me right back to our holiday in Florida a few years ago. A stop off at Bonefish Grill on a day out – we started our meal with Bang Bang Shrimp, and wow! So delicious!
I was reminded of them when we had a similar version in our hometown recently – served from a hatch at a restaurant (I love how restaurants have adapted so brilliantly to lockdown conditions) so we could enjoy them by the sea.
I couldn’t wait to recreate them at home!
📋 What do we need for the prawns?
For the Bang Bang Sauce
🔪 How to make Bang Bang Shrimp
**Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
- First off make the sauce by simply mixing the sauce ingredients together (see the recipe card for quantities).
- Pat the prawns dry, then coat them in cornflour, following by a mixture of egg and buttermilk. Finally dredge in seasoned panko.
- Fry the prawns in a large frying pan in around 120ml (1 cup) of oil, turning once until golden brown.
- Drain on some kitchen roll and serve on a bed of crispy lettuce.
👩🍳PRO TIP If you want to bake the prawns instead of frying them, add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the panko mixture and mix well, then dip in the buttermilk/egg mixture (no need to dip in cornflour first), coat in the seasoned breadcrumbs and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are golden.
Drizzle on plenty of the bang bang sauce, plus serve with extra for dipping. I like to sprinkle with chopped spring onions (scallions) and a little dried chilli and/or finely chopped fresh red chillies.
So moreish! And that bang bang sauce works great on burgers, fish fingers and as a sauce for ham, chicken or salmon sandwiches.
I also have 2 other variations of this, my veggie-friendly Bang Bang Cauliflower and my baked Bang Bang Chicken.
📺 Watch how to make it
🍲 More fantastic prawn/shrimp recipes
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Bang Bang Shrimp
Ingredients
Crispy Shrimp:
- 225 g (8 oz) King Prawns shells removed and prawns deveined
- 2 tbsp cornflour cornstarch
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 150 g (3 cups) panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic salt
- ½ tsp celery salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) sunflower oil
Bang Bang Sauce:
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce
- 1 tsp honey
To Serve:
- 1 romaine lettuce shredded
- 2 spring onions scallions chopped
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes or 1 fresh red chilli thinly sliced
Instructions
- Start by making the bang bang sauce. Place the mayonnaise, sweet chilli sauce, sriracha and honey in a small bowl and mix together, then put to one side while you make the crispy shrimp/prawns.120 ml (1/2 cup) mayonnaise, 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, 1 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce, 1 tsp honey
- Pat the king prawns dry using kitchen roll/paper.225 g (8 oz) King Prawns
- Place the cornflour in one bowl.2 tbsp cornflour
- Place the buttermilk and egg in a second bowl and lightly whisk to combine.120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk, 1 egg
- Place the panko, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic salt, celery salt, and white pepper in a third bowl and mix together.150 g (3 cups) panko breadcrumbs, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp celery salt, 1/4 tsp white pepper
- Dredge the king prawns in the cornflour, then dip in the buttermilk mixture to coat and finally coat the prawns in the panko mixture. Place the coated prawns on a plate.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.120 ml (1/2 cup) sunflower oil
- Once the oil is hot, add the prawns.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Then remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with kitchen roll to soak up any excess fat.
- Place the shredded romaine on a serving plate, top with the crispy shrimp/prawns and drizzle over 3 tbsp of the bang bang sauce.1 romaine lettuce
- Sprinkle on the chopped spring onions (scallions) and the chilli flakes and serve.2 spring onions, 1 tsp dried chilli flakes or 1 fresh red chilli
Video
Notes
By using raw prawns, you’re cooking them once, then reheating them once. If you were to be using ready-cooked prawns, that means they’d be cooked before buying, cooked again with the recipe and then reheated again. That’s too many times to reheat from a food safety point of view. So I don’t recommend that. If you did want to cook ahead, use raw prawns, cook, cool quickly, then cover and refrigerate for up to a day, or freeze in an air-tight container or bag (you may want to freeze for a couple of hours on a tray first, then transfer to a bag to be sure they don’t stick together). Reheat the prawns in the oven from the fridge or from frozen, on a baking tray. Make sure the prawns are in a single layer. Heat at 200C/400F until piping hot throughout. I find this takes about 3-4 minutes from the fridge or 7-8 minutes from frozen.They’ll go a little darker then they were when they were first fried. They should still have a nice crispy coating. Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (this recipe serves 4). This calculation assumes approx 3 tbsp of oil is absorbed during cooking and all of the bang bang sauce is used.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Love the recipe! I’m thinking about trying it with fresh walleye. I caught out of lake Erie. What are your thoughts?
AMAAZZING and MOUTH WATERING!
Bloody fantastic!!!!! Delicious! We had it as a main on a bed of lettuce. If using as a main, this server 3x people.
Great recipe, so tasty
Can this be done in the Air Fryer?
Cheers,
CarrieAnn
I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it would work well. I’d spray with a good amount of spray oil first and cook for about 6-8 minutes at 200c/400F, shaking the basket a couple of times during cooking.
If baking in the oven, what temp for a fan oven please.
I’m not a big fan of seafood…..but u have to admit….these are absolutely gorgeous….ive just made them for tea oh my…..they just moreish ……Deffo making these again…..so easy to make….mmmmm and the bang bang sauce….delicious.
I haven’t got any buttermilk and want to try this tonight. Would it make any difference if I used half-fat milk instead?
You can use half fat milk that’s been mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice – it makes a great replacement for buttermilk.
Wow! Nicky and Chris the prawns are amazing! Really love them! Had no sriracha sauce (rural France) but had some Korean spicy sauce which I used instead and it was delicious too! Thank you for such a great dinner!! Served with chop salad and the inevitable home made chips! 😁😁