Bang Bang Prawns Recipe

Bang Bang Prawns also known as bang bang shrimp is a popular dish featuring crispy fried prawns tossed in a no cook creamy mayonnaise chilli sauce. Easy to make dinner dish that uses just pantry staple ingredients and can be put together in less than 30 minutes. This dish tastes amazing as an Appetizer or side for noodles or steamed rice. 

Bang Bang Prawns Recipe

Every time I see fresh shrimp, my mind immediately thinks of fried shrimp. Everyone in my family, specially my daughter loves crispy fried shrimp or calamari. Last week husband brought home two pounds of freshly caught sea prawns. 

Jump to:

• About Bang Bang Prawns
• Ingredients
• Step by Step Pictures
• Expert Tips
• FAQ
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The first dish I wanted to make is this bang bang prawns. Looking back on the blog, I have already published this recipe in 2023, but I wanted to revamp it and give a new look. So here is an updated version that uses my version of bang bang sauce.

About Bang Bang Prawns

Bang bang prawns is nothing but cornstarch dusted deep fried crispy prawns tossed in a sweet, spicy and creamy mayo based sauce. The dish is super easy to put together, and is perfect for busy weeknights. I served it with shredded cabbage, steamed jasmine rice and everyone loved it. 

Most of the recipes use buttermilk in marinating the prawns. But I don't have it all the time at home. So I made my make shift buttermilk by mixing milk and lemon juice along with spice powders and it created a perfect marination for the prawns.

Also I learned this trick of soaking seafood like prawns and squid in milk to remove the fishy smell and also it helps tenderises the flesh. Check my spicy prawn fry and prawn 65.

The spices I used is a mix of chilli powder, garlic powder, black pepper powder and salt. You could use old bay seasoning or any seafood seasoning. The coating is just plain cornstarch, as you add the marinated prawn straight into the cornstarch it creates a coarse outer crust which turns super crispy when fried. 

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Now let's talk about the most important part of the dish which is the bang bang sauce. I used mayonnaise, chilli garlic paste, honey and vinegar to create the perfect balance of heat, sour and sweet taste. This is a no cook sauce, you mix it together and boom the sauce is made. 

You can marinate the prawns in the morning and fry it for dinner. When I marinate the prawns, I mix the sauce ingredients together and store in fridge. During dinner time, coat the prawns in cornstarch and deep fry. Then toss in the mayo sauce to create creamy bang bang prawns. That's it dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes. 

Here is a pro tip, deep fry the prawn twice for super crispy texture. Specially when you are making this in bulk. Fry the prawns once for couple of minutes. Strain and set aside to cool, then increase the heat to high and flash fry one more time till crispy.  Also coat the fried prawns in sauce just before serving to retain the crispy texture. 

Now that the prawn is done, the next question is what to serve this with. You can enjoy bang bang prawns as an appetizer in a bed of shredded lettuce. Or with steamed jasmine rice, noodles or fried rice. 

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Ingredients

• Prawns - choose medium to large prawns for making bang bang prawns. 
• Milk - marinating prawns in milk helps remove the fishy taste from it also helps tenderising the shrimp.
• Lemon juice - lemon juice or vinegar is used along with milk to remove the fishy taste. 
• Spices and Seasonings - I used paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper powder. 
• For Sauce - a combination of mayonnaise, chilli garlic sauce, honey and vinegar is mixed to make the super creamy sauce. 
• Cornstarch - prawns is coated in cornstarch before frying to make it super crispy.
• Oil - use neutral oil like canola oil, refined sunflower oil or ground nut for deep frying. 

Step by Step Pictures

Marinating Prawns

1)Take cleaned deveined prawns in a mixing bowl.

2)Add in lemon juice over the prawns.

3)Pour milk, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper powder in the bowl and mix well.

4)Cover and leave it to marinate for 2 hours in fridge. 

Bang bang sauce

5)Mix together the sauce ingredients in a bowl. This is a no cook sauce.

• ½ cup Mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoon Chilli Garlic Paste or Schezwan sauce
• 4 tablespoon Honey
• 3 tablespoon Vinegar

6)Taste and adjust the sauces. Set aside till use.

Frying Prawns

7)Heat oil for deep frying. Take cornstarch in a bowl. Remove the prawns from the marination using tongs and drop it directly into the cornstarch.

8)Coat it really well in the cornstarch. 

9)Remove the prawns from the cornstarch.

10)Now drop this into the hot oil and fry till golden brown and crispy. It will take around 3 to 5 minutes.

11)Remove from the oil using a slotted spoon and take it in a bowl. 

12)Strain the fried prawns on a paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil.

Coating Prawns with sauce

13)Pour the prepared bang bang sauce over the fried prawns and toss to combine.  

14)Spoon this over a bed of shredded lettuce, sprinkle top with spring onions. Serve hot.

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Expert Tips

• Marinate the prawns upto 5 to 6 hours and not longer. Else the prawns may start to cook in the lemon juice.
• Instead of chilli garlic paste, you can use sriracha sauce, schezwan sauce, sambal olek, chilli garlic sauce. 
• Any variety of mayonnaise can be used. 
• You can use sweet chilli sauce instead of honey.
• Deep fry the prawns twice for super crispy texture. Also coat the prawns in the sauce just before serving. 

Serving and Storage

Bang bang prawns taste best when served immediately. It is not recommended to store fried prawns. You can enjoy bang bang prawns as an Appetizer over a bed of shredded lettuce or with steamed jasmine rice, noodles or fried rice. 

FAQ

Q: What are bang bang prawns?

Bang bang prawns is nothing but cornstarch dusted deep fried crispy prawns tossed in a sweet, spicy and creamy mayo based sauce. 

Q: What is bang bang sauce made of?

Traditionally it is made by combining mayo, sweet chilli sauce, and siracha sauce. 

Q: Why do they call it Bang Bang Shrimp?

It is called Bang Bang shrimp because of the explosive taste of the sauce, which is creamy, sweet and spicy all in one bite. 

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