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Kkanpung Saeu (Sweet and Spicy Shrimp)
4.6 from 117 votes

Kkanpung Saeu (Sweet and Spicy Shrimp)

Kkanpung Saeu is a Korean-style sweet and spicy shrimp dish featuring large shrimp coated in a potato starch and egg batter, and twice-fried until lightly golden and crispy. The shrimp are then tossed with a sauce combining soy, oyster sauce, sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice, accompanied by aromatic vegetables like dried red peppers, garlic, ginger, scallion, onions, and bell peppers that add heat and depth. This dish balances a crisp texture with bold, tangy flavors, making it suitable as an appetizer or main course.

Servings: 4
Course: Main Course, Appetizer, Others

Ingredients

  • 1 pound Shrimp about 22 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, large
  • cooking oil for frying
Batter
  • 8 tablespoons potato starch
  • 1 egg
Aromatic vegetables
  • 4 to 5 dried red hot peppers roughly cut, small
  • 5 garlic thinly sliced, cloves
  • 1- inch ginger thinly julienned
  • 1 scallion finely chopped
  • 1/4 onion finely diced, medium
  • 1/4 red bell pepper or 1 red chili pepper, finely diced
  • 1 green chili pepper finely diced
Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine or use more water, or dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons water or chicken or dashima broth
  • 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Clean the shrimp, drain, and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let it sit until ready to coat with the batter.
  2. Prepare the vegetables.
  3. In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients, except the sesame oil, well until the sugar is dissolved.
  4. Add the starch and egg to the bowl with the shrimp. Mix everything well by hand until there's no visible starch powder and the shrimp is evenly coated with the batter.
  5. Add 4 cups of oil to a deep fryer, wok, or large pot. Heat over high heat to 340°F or until a drop of batter in the oil moderately bubbles up to the surface. Using metal tongs or chopsticks, drop the shrimp in the oil one at a time, in two batches. Cook until lightly golden, about a minute.
  6. Remove them quickly with a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer set on a bowl. Reheat the oil to 340°F between the batches and for the second frying.
  7. Add the shrimp (you can do this in one batch for the second frying) and briefly deep fry again until lightly golden brown. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer.
  8. In a large pan or wok, add the dried pepper and 3 tablespoons of deep-frying oil over low heat until the oil starts to turn red. This only takes a few seconds. Do not burn the peppers.
  9. Turn up the heat to high. Add the garlic, ginger, onion, and scallion, and stir fry briefly until fragrant. Stir in the green chili pepper and red bell (or chili) pepper, and cook for an additional minute or two.
  10. Add the sauce, and boil for a couple of minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
  11. Drop the shrimp into the pan, and quickly stir everything together until the sauce is almost absorbed. Drizzle the sesame oil, and toss everything together again. Serve immediately.