Many Ways to Fry

• How you fry the shrimp determines whether you batter the shrimp or flour them. Deep frying works best for battered shrimp, because the shrimp are entirely bathed in hot oil. The batter gets crisp and crunchy on both sides while the inside stays moist. Sauteing the shrimp or frying them in enough oil to liberally coat the inside of the pan works with a flour coating but not well with batter. The shrimp cook on only one side at a time. Frying in the oven works with flour. The even heat of the oven cooks both sides of each shrimp at the same time. However, batter doesn't work, because it spreads over the pan before it has time to crisp.

Size Matters

• Tiny battered shrimp are mostly batter and not much shrimp, so a light batter works best with them. A light batter on bigger shrimp lets the flavor of the shrimp shine through. Shrimp overcook before you know it, turning into tight, stringy curls. Keep a close eye on smaller shrimp since they cook faster. Shrimp packages are sold based on how many shrimp are in 1 pound. The larger the shrimp, the fewer needed to reach 1 pound. However, ignore the name of the shrimp, because it may have no relation to size. For example, jumbo shrimp could be 15 shrimp to a pound or 30 to 40 shrimp per pound.

Targeted Temperatures

• Oil for deep frying has to be around 325 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lower than that, and the oil creeps into the batter and makes the shrimp greasy. Higher, and the shrimp burn before they are cooked through. A light batter fries up more quickly than a heavy batter. Oven-fried shrimp do best at 400 F. Most sauté pans don't have a built-in temperature gauge. Keep the pan on medium-high heat throughout the frying process to ensure consistent results.

Add Crunch to the Flour

• Two of the reasons deep-fried, batter-coated shrimp taste so good are the seasonings in the batter and the crunch. Plain flour doesn't give you either of these characteristics. Add some zip to the flour with seasonings such as dried herbs, onion or garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Add crunch by dredging the shrimp, or tossing them if the shrimp are small, in seasoned flour. Then dip the shrimp into beaten eggs and finally into panko bread crumbs, cornmeal or back into the flour. The eggs cause the crumbs to stick to the shrimp. When dipping back into flour, the eggs moisten the flour, which in some ways comes to resemble a light batter. When fried, the flour-and-egg mixture becomes crunchy.