I had my first Crispy Mushrooms with Thai Shrimp Salad at a local Thai restaurant called Salad Factory in my mom’s neighborhood in Bangkok Thailand. The King oyster mushrooms were fried to perfection, crispy yet light, almost like Japanese tempura. They came with the Thai spicy shrimp and ground pork salad, or as the Thai’s called it “yum”, which means spicy salad like my Yum Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad) and Yum Goon Chiang (Thai Sausage Salad).
Thai salads are usually tangy, a little sweet and salty and of course spicy, which is totally different than any Western salads. It is generally served as main dish with some Jasmin rice, but you can serve it as an appetizer. The only downside of the Crispy Mushrooms with Thai Shrimp Salad we had was the small portion, it wasn’t enough and I wanted more!
The Mushrooms
Like kids in a candy store, I found these beautiful organic gourmet mushrooms at Costco. They are Alba Clamshell, Trumpet Royal (King Oyster), Brown Clamshell and Maitake, all in one pack and oh sooooo fresh! I was screaming inside like a mushroom nerd. ha ha
For large mushrooms like Trumpet Royal (King Oyster), I sliced them lengthwise (4-5 slices depends on how thick they are). You can use any mushrooms you like, just make sure to slice them if they are thick.
After I used some in my Hot and Sour Soup, I still had plenty to make these Crispy Mushrooms with Thai Shrimp Salad. The only challenge was how to make the perfect crispy and light batter. I could buy the pre-made Thai tempura flour from the Asian store, but I thought it would be awesome to try to create my own. Plus it’s Sunday and I got nothing else going on, so why not!?
The Perfect Batter
Here’s what I used; all purpose flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, olive oil and water. All of these together creates the light and long lasting crisp batter that you will love and of course it was also approved by my husband, Earl. We couldn’t finish all the mushrooms so we put some in the fridge then heat them up the next day in the oven at 350˚F for 5-7 minutes and they became crispy again. LOVE this batter. I think I can use it in so many ways, like onion rings, other veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, asparagus, broccoli or fried fish and shrimp, anything really!
Thai Shrimp Salad
The star side that has some cooked shrimp and ground chicken (you can use ground pork or turkey), fresh lime juice, Fish Sauce
Let’s cook some food!
First, boil the water in a medium pot, add the ground chicken (pork or turkey). Cook until it’s no longer pink. Scoop them out from the pot and transfer into a large bowl. I use my handy dandy spider strainer, it works best for this job.
Next, cook the shrimp for a few minutes in the same boiling water. Once they turn pink, scoop them out. Once cool, cut them into small pieces and transfer them into the same bowl. You can also use store bought cooked shrimp for shortcut.
Add chopped cilantro, thinly sliced white (or red) onion, Thai fresh chilies (I used 6, add more if you like spicy food or less or none, you do you!), Fish Sauce, lime juice, Agave and Nam Prik Pao (Thai chili paste).
Mix everything together. Set aside.
Next, heat olive oil (use regular and not extra virgin) in a heavy bottom pot like a Dutch Oven
How much oil?
It depends on how big your pot is, I always fill it up to about an inch from the bottom.
For the batter, mix all purpose flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, olive oil and water in a large bowl.
Add mushrooms to the batter for frying the first batch. Try to keep the same size of mushrooms in each batch so they are cooked at the same time. Don’t crowd the pot, I did 5 batches. For smaller mushrooms, they will take less time to cook obviously.
Once the oil is hot, gently shake the mushrooms to get rid of excess batter and carefully drop them into the oil. Drop it gently away from you to avoid splashing yourself. If you have a thermometer, it should be about 350–375°F (176–190°C). If you do not, stick a wooden spoon in the pot slowly. If the oil steadily bubbles around the stick, it’s ready for frying or try with a little piece of mushroom.
Fry them until golden brown on both sides. Use a large wooden spoon or chopstick (whoop whoop to my chopstick skills. ha!) to flip them.
Scoop them out and let them rest on a large sheet pan laid with paper towels. Again, I love using my spider strainer.
Repeat the next batch until the mushrooms are gone.
Transfer them into a serving plate and serve with the shrimp salad.
I hope you give this Crispy Mushrooms with Thai Shrimp Salad recipe a try. You will love it and please let me know how it goes. The recipe card and comment box are below.
Also, thanks for reading my story and following the recipes. Cooking Thai food is like therapy for me, especially when I miss my mom, friends and family in Thailand. Here’s me and my beautiful 83 years young mom, from our last visit in Jan 2020. XO
- For crispy mushrooms:
- 4 cups of fresh mushrooms (any kind you like)
- regular olive oil (not extra virgin), fill the pot up to about 1 inch deep
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup rice flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 cups water
- For shrimp salad:
- 1 cup cooked shrimp, chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup cooked ground chicken (or ground pork or turkey)
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- ¼ white (or red onion), thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Agave (or sugar)
- 1 tablespoon Nam Prik Pao (Thai chili paste)
- 5-6 fresh Thai chilies, finely chopped (more or less depends on how much you like the heat)
- 3-4 cups water (to cook shrimp and ground meat)
- Boil the water in a medium pot, add the ground chicken (pork or turkey). Cook until it's no longer pink. Scoop them out from the pot and transfer into a large bowl.
- Cook the shrimp for a few minutes in the same boiling water. Once they turn pink, scoop them out. Once cool, cut them into small pieces and transfer them into the same bowl.
- Add chopped cilantro, thinly sliced white (or red) onion, Thai fresh chilies, Fish Sauce, lime juice, Agave and Nam Prik Pao (Thai chili paste).
- Mix everything together. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom pot like a Dutch Oven, medium heat. Fill the oil up to about an inch from the bottom.
- For the batter, mix all purpose flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, olive oil and water in a large bowl.
- Add mushrooms to the batter for frying the first batch. Try to keep the same size of mushrooms in each batch so they are cooked at the same time. Don't crowd the pot. For smaller mushrooms, they will take less time to cook.
- Once the oil is hot, gently shake the mushrooms to get rid of excess batter and carefully drop them into the oil. Drop it gently away from you to avoid splashing yourself. If you have a thermometer, it should be about 350–375°F (176–190°C). If you do not, stick a wooden spoon in the pot slowly. If the oil steadily bubbles around the stick, it’s ready for frying or try with a little piece of mushroom.
- Fry them until golden brown on both sides.
- Scoop them out and let them rest on a large sheet pan laid with paper towels.
- Repeat the next batch until the mushrooms are gone.
- Transfer them into a serving plate and serve with the shrimp salad.
My research shows olive oil is a great choice for frying for health reason, avocado oil is also another good choice.
Use a heavy bottom pot like a Dutch Oven, medium heat to fry the mushrooms. You can use a deep fryer, air fryer, whatever you got.
Last but not least, you can use store bought cooked shrimp for shortcut.
Thanks for the recipe.