Honey Walnut Shrimp

Indulge in the irresistible harmony of crispy fried shrimp, crunchy walnuts, and a creamy sweet sauce in our honey walnut shrimp recipe.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Asian

Keyword: Honey Walnut Shrimp Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 596kcal

Ingredients

Candied Walnuts

1 cup water
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole-shelled walnuts

Honey Sauce

⅓ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Fried Shrimp

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed and patted dry (31-35 count)
½ cup liquid egg whites
¼ to ½ cup rice flour
Canola oil, for frying (amount will vary depending on the size of your frying pot)

Optional Garnish

1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions
Served over steamed white rice

Instructions

To make the candied walnuts, add the water and granulated sugar to a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the water to a boil and allow the water to boil for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar melts. Note: Be sure not to stir the water and sugar while the sugar is dissolving, or you may create sugar crystals in your candied walnuts.
Add the walnuts to the saucepot, stir the walnuts into the sugar mixture, and allow the walnuts to boil for an additional 5-6 minutes. Remove the candied walnuts from the pot with a slotted spoon and spread them out onto a parchment paper lined tray to dry while you finish the rest of the recipe.
To make the honey sauce, stir together the mayonnaise, honey, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice until fully combined and smooth. Set aside.
To make the fried shrimp, add the canola oil to a large, heavy-duty pot and heat the oil to 375°F while you prepare your shrimp.
In a mixing bowl, add the liquid egg whites and whisk for 1-2 minutes until the egg whites are very frothy. Add the rice flour, starting with ¼ cup, adding more if needed up to a ½ cup in total, and whisk again until your batter is smooth and similar to a thick pancake batter.
Add the shrimp (being sure that they have been patted dry well) to the batter and toss the shrimp to fully coat them in the batter.
Very carefully drop the batter-coated shrimp, one at a time, into the hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes or just until the shrimp is a light golden brown. If your pot is not very large, you may need to fry the shrimp in two batches. Remove the fried shrimp from the hot oil using a slotted spoon or spider utensil, and place them onto a paper towel-lined plate to allow any excess oil to drip off.
Once all your shrimp has been fried and the excess oil drained off, add the fried shrimp and candied walnuts to a large bowl. Pour the honey sauce over and lightly toss to evenly coat all the shrimp and walnuts in the sauce.
Transfer the honey walnut shrimp to a large serving bowl and garnish with the thinly sliced scallions.

Notes

As a time saver, you can make your candied walnuts up to two days ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. You will just want to be sure that your walnuts have had enough time to dry on the parchment paper before adding them to a storage container.
If you are using an electric deep fryer with a fry basket, you may want to lower the basket into the hot oil and drop the batter-coated shrimp, one at a time, into the fryer to avoid the wet batter from sticking to the fry basket before the shrimp fry. You can use the fry basket or a slotted spoon to lift the fried shrimp out of the hot oil just as you would if you used a heavy-duty pot for frying.
You may need to fry your shrimp in two batches as you do not want to overcrowd your pot, or your oil temperature can drop too low and not yield the results you desire for your fried shrimp. When frying your shrimp, be sure to occasionally move the shrimp around in the hot oil with a large metal spoon to ensure that your batter-coated shrimp do not stick together while frying.

Nutrition