Prep the shell-on shrimp
Snip long feelers and legs if present. Pat the shrimp extremely dry. Toss with egg white and Shaoxing and rest 10 minutes.
Recipes › Salt & Pepper Shrimp
Salt & Pepper Shrimp
Yan Su Xia
Shell-on shrimp fried crisp, then blasted through a wok with garlic, chile and freshly ground pepper salt — crunchy outside, juicy inside and intensely aromatic.
Jump to RecipeAI-generated serving illustration. It is not a photograph of a tested batch or a doneness reference.
The Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Make fresh pepper salt
Toast Sichuan and white peppercorns until fragrant. Grind with salt, sugar and five-spice.
Dredge lightly
Drain the shrimp and coat thoroughly in potato starch, shaking off excess.
First fry
Heat oil to 340°F / 170°C. Fry in batches about 90 seconds, then lift to a rack and rest 2 minutes.
Second fry for shell crunch
Raise oil to 390°F / 200°C and fry again 30 to 40 seconds until the shells are crisp. Drain well.
Flash the aromatics
Pour off the oil, leaving about 1 tablespoon. Over high heat stir-fry garlic, ginger, chile and scallion whites 30 seconds.
Toss and finish
Return shrimp, add two-thirds of the pepper salt and toss 20 seconds. Turn off the heat, fold in scallion greens, dust with remaining pepper salt and serve with lime.
OPTIONAL UPGRADE
Flavor Bomb
Keep the core recipe clean, or flip this on for one or two high-impact upgrades.
How to know it's done
Use these recipe-specific texture cues. Color and curl alone cannot establish safety; use a thermometer to check 145°F / 63°C at the thickest part for cooked shrimp.
ShrimpSense Notes
The little details that make a big difference.
Fresh-ground pepper matters
The aroma of toasted Sichuan and white pepper fades fast; grind it for the dish.
The shell is part of the texture
Choose shrimp small enough that the shell can crisp but large enough that the meat stays juicy.
Double fry separates jobs
The first fry cooks; the second short hot fry crisps the shell.
Aromatics are a flash
Garlic and chile need seconds in the wok, not minutes.