Vietnamese Shrimp and Sweet Potato Fritters (Banh Tom)

What is Bánh Tôm?

Bánh Tôm, or its full name, Bánh Tôm Chiên Khoai Lang, are crispy deep-fried fritters made with thinly sliced sweet potatoes, topped with shrimp.

Traditionally, whole small shrimp are used, including heads, shell, and tail, so they fry up really crispy. However, you can remove the head and shell before frying if you prefer.

For this recipe, I used shrimp heads only because I had so many in the freezer. Shrimp heads add a rich buttery head fat flavor that was simply divine. This is entirely optional.

Enjoy this as a tasty appetizer. Start with placing the fritter on a bed of leafy green lettuce and other assorted Vietnamese herbs, then give it a dunk in a sweet and savory chili sauce for the ultimate eating experience.

Bánh Tôm Batter

The batter is a mixture of julienned sweet potatoes, all-purpose flour, rice flour, salt, black pepper, chicken bouillon powder (optional), turmeric powder, green onions, an egg and water.

The turmeric powder, in addition to the egg yolk, provide that iconic yellow color.

The egg yolk provides richness to the batter and binds everything together.

To make the batter, there’s nothing fancy. Simply toss everything together in a bowl and mix until smooth.

Sweet Potatoes

If you don’t have sweet potatoes, regular russet potatoes, small red potatoes, taro, and even kabocha squash/pumpkin work too.

Cut them into matchsticks. It’s important not to make them too thick. If they are too thick, they won’t crisp up or cook all the way through.

I’m using a julienne peeler to speed up the process, but you can also slice it up with a knife. Peel and cut into thick coins then slice into matchsticks.

Flour 

I’m using all purpose flour for the base and a bit of rice flour for that crispy crunch when fried.

Make sure you are using regular rice flour, not glutinous rice flour.

Equipment You Will Need

You only need a wide skillet for deep frying and a large wooden spoon to assemble the batter and shrimp before they hit the hot oil.

While a thermometer would be handy to maintain a constant temperature of 350°F for perfect crispiness, it’s not required. I prefer using an infrared instant-read thermometer to keep it out of the oil, resulting in less mess.

If you don’t have a thermometer, simply drop a piece of starch into the oil, and if it sizzles, the oil is ready.

Tips for Frying

I found that the best way is to start by placing the shrimp on a wooden spoon.

Then, using chopsticks or tongs, grab the sweet potatoes and place them onto the shrimp. Use another spoon to push the batter into the hot oil.

Hot oil hits shrimp and batter at the same time, securing them in place.

This fries up nicely than just scooping batter onto a spoon and placing shrimp on top. That tends to result in a thick layer of batter that fries up like a dough ball rather than a crispy fritter.

Also the shrimp has a higher chance to separate from the batter.

Each fritter only needs about 3 minutes in total.

What to Serve with the Fritters

These shrimp and sweet potato fritters taste great wrapped up lettuce and Vietnamese herbs. Dip these lettuce shrimp wraps into the mother sauce of Vietnam, Nuoc Cham, and you have perfection.

The fresh vegetables, herbs and sauce provide a nice balance with the fried fritters.

You can use leafy lettuce, butter lettuce, iceberg and even romaine lettuce.

For Vietnamese herbs, you can use Vietnamese coriander (rau ram), perilla (tia to), Thai basil (hung que), and many more.

Related Post: A Guide to the Most Common Herbs in Vietnamese Cuisine

Storage and Reheating

You can prepare the batter and season the shrimp ahead of time. Just keep the sweet potatoes out of the batter until you are ready to fry.

Keep batter and shrimp covered in the refrigerator. When you’re ready, mix the potatoes and batter together and deep fry.

The fritters can also be fried ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Reheat them in the oven, air fryer or briefly fry them again at 350°F until warm through.

Related Recipes

If you enjoy this recipe, you might also like these other Vietnamese street food dishes:

• Grilled Bread with Salt and Chili (Banh Mi Nuong Muoi Ot)
• Sea Snails in Coconut Milk (Oc Len Xao Dua)
• Grilled Rice Paper (Banh Trang Nuong)
• Rice Paper Salad (Banh Trang Tron)