Tortillitas de camarones are a tapas from Cádiz on the coast of southern Spain. They are a thin batter of chickpea flour and wheat flour with small shrimp, scallion and parsley, spooned into hot olive oil and fried until lacy and crisp at the edges. Despite the name they are nothing like a tortilla, they are really chickpea fritters, closer to a pakora or a very thin latke. The chickpea flour gives them a nutty flavor and helps them crisp up, and since there is no egg the batter stays light. In Cádiz they use tiny whole shrimp, shell and all, but chopped small shrimp work fine. They come together in about 15 minutes plus a rest for the batter, and are great with a cold beer, a glass of dry sherry, or just a squeeze of lemon. The recipe is from Mark Bittman for the New York Times, the video is worth watching to see how thin to spread them.
youtube video
Ingredients
- 1/2c chickpea flour, sometimes sold as garbanzo bean flour or besan
- 1/2c all purpose flour
- 1t salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 1/2c to 1c cold water, I start with 1/2c and add more only if needed, less water makes the fritters less watery and crisper
- 1/2 lb small shrimp, peeled and deveined, roughly chopped into pea sized pieces
- 2 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced
- 2T chopped parsley
- olive oil for frying, a few tablespoons per fritter
- lemon wedges and a little soy sauce for serving
Steps
- peel the shrimp and make sure they are deveined, if not buy them already cleaned run a knife down the back of each one and pull out the dark vein, then rinse and carefully check them since they get chopped small and any grit will end up in the fritters
- chop the shrimp into small pieces about the size of a pea, pat dry with a paper towel so they don’t water down the batter
- thinly slice the scallions and chop the parsley
- in a medium bowl whisk together the chickpea flour, all purpose flour and salt so there are no lumps
- pour in 1/2c of the water while whisking until smooth, then add more a splash at a time only until the batter runs off the whisk in a stream, I find keeping it on the thick side of heavy cream makes for less watery fritters, the full 1c is the most you should need
- stir in the scallions and parsley, and the shrimp too, or hold the shrimp back and scatter some over each pancake as it cooks so every one gets the same amount, the shrimp tend to sink and clump in the batter otherwise
- cover and let the batter rest 30m at room temperature or up to a few hours in the fridge, this lets the chickpea flour hydrate and gets rid of any raw flour taste
- when ready to cook set a wire rack over a sheet pan or line a plate with paper towels
- add a few tablespoons of olive oil to an 8 inch skillet, enough to cover the bottom in a thin layer, and heat over medium high until shimmering, a drop of batter should sizzle right away
- I make one big fritter at a time the size of the pan, this batter makes 3 or 4 in an 8 inch pan and one fritter is a good portion for a person, a larger pan makes fewer bigger fritters so stick with the 8 inch for meal sized ones
- for appetizer size use a 12 inch pan and drop in a spoonful of batter per fritter, spreading each one thin, you can cook several at a time this way
- give the batter a stir since the shrimp settle, then pour in about 1/4c to 1/3c of batter and tilt the pan around to spread it thinly over the bottom, you want to see the oil through the batter in spots, the thinner it is the crisper it gets
- if you held the shrimp back, scatter a share of them over the top right after pouring so they set into the batter
- cook 2-3m until the bottom is golden and the edges are brown and lacy, then flip with a wide spatula and cook another 1-2m
- move to the rack, sprinkle with salt while hot
- add a little more oil between fritters if the pan looks dry and adjust the heat, if they brown too fast turn it down, if they stay pale turn it up
- serve right away with lemon wedges and a little soy sauce for dipping, the soy is not traditional but is a nice sauce with the shrimp, they are best in the first few minutes while still crisp
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