If you love prawn recipes, these prawn fritters are for you! Inspired by Japanese savoury okonomiyaki or Korean seafood pancake, these prawn or shrimp fritters with green onions and zucchini will be a total hit as finger food, appetizer, or as the main component of your dinner meal.
Served with spicy Sriracha mayonnaise, these little savoury pancakes are gluten-free, paleo, Whole30 and tree nut-free (great for lunchboxes). I hope you like them! Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to rate this recipe.
Prawn Fritters or Prawn Pancakes?
There is a really lovely seafood pancake dish I like to order at our local Japanese/Korean restaurant. It looks like a long savoury pancake, cut into squares and it’s made with prawns/ shrimp, squid and scallops as well as a generous amount of green onions (scallions) and Asian aromatics. It’s served with a simple soy sauce-based dipping condiment and chillies.
I’ve always wanted to recreate a healthy version at home with a handful of readily-available ingredients. I decided to use frozen raw prawns (or shrimp, depending on where you are) but to keep it more affordable, I mixed in some grated zucchini to fatten up the batter, so to speak.
To be honest, I don’t know if I should call these prawn fritters or prawn pancakes. They’re somewhere in between. One thing I am sure of is that they are delicious and super easy to make. I love them because they have a good ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat to keep you satiated.
How To Make Prawn Fritters
The batter consists of chopped green onions (both white and green parts), aromatics like ginger, garlic and green chilli, prawn meat (simply chopped raw prawns or shrimps) and grated zucchini.
The rest is eggs, coconut flour and cassava flour to bind it all together and to give the fritters some extra body and fluffiness. Unlike tempura fritters or deep-fried fritters, which are more crispy throughout and have less batter, these prawn fritters are crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.
They are fried in a lot less oil than a deep-fried version making them lighter in calories (for those concerned). They only need 3 minutes on each side in a medium-hot pan.
What To Serve With Prawn Fritters
Here are a few ways you can enjoy these Asian prawn fritters.
Sriracha Mayo
The sauce is dead easy with out-of-fridge mayo mixed together with some spicy Sriracha sauce. You can also use another type of hot sauce or mix in some wasabi, horseradish, hot mustard or anything else spicy you have on hand. Garlic aioli will also work well.
Other Sauce Options
And, if you wanted to go with a lighter condiment, you could mix some Tamari soy sauce or coconut amino with a little sesame oil and lemon juice. For a kick, add a little grated ginger and chopped chili. You can also serve ready-bought sweet chilli sauce or a simple drizzle of Sriracha.
Side Dishes
If you’re serving these shrimp fritters as finger food or an appetizer then all you need is a dipping sauce. If you want to turn these into a meal, serve them with a side of Asian greens or broccoli and either a side of regular rice or rice noodles or cauliflower rice/zucchini noodles for a low-carb version.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
- Ground Chicken Pizza Crust With Asian Sauce & Herbs – East meets West in this fusion recipe
- Vietnamese Meatballs & Broccoli Rice – this one is low-carb and keto-friendly, one of my favourites.
- Golden Coconut Shrimp With Honey Lemon Glaze – this is a total crowd-pleaser!
- Lemongrass Cauliflower Shrimp Rice – I love the aromas in this dish, very nutritious 🙂Â
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cooked & Loved
Ingredients
- 4 green onions diced (scallions, green and white parts, about 1/2 cup tightly packed)
- 1 teaspoon grated or diced ginger about 3 thin slices
- 1 garlic clove finely diced or grated
- 1/2 jalapeño pepper red could be used, go for mild heat
- 225 g prawns or shrimp, 1/2 lb. raw or frozen and thawed out
- 1/2 medium zucchini grated
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- A pinch of pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup cassava flour or tapioca flour
- Olive oil or coconut oil for cooking
For the sauce
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha or another hot sauce of choice
- Optional garnishes: sesame seeds extra green onions, radishes
Instructions
- Combine diced green onions, ginger, garlic and chili in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Dice the raw prawns or shrimp into small pieces with a knife. Each shrimp into 4-5 pieces and transfer to the bowl.
- Grate the zucchini, then squeeze in batches over a bowl or a sink to get rid of some excess juice. Return the flesh to the mixing bowl. You can discard the juice or use it to make my zucchini juice shots.
- Add the eggs, season with salt, pepper and fish sauce and mix well.
- Add the baking powder and flours and combine into a thick batter.
- Heat a large skillet/frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and once hot, add the batter as small pancakes to the pan (a heaped tablespoon or so per fritter). Flatten the tops with a spatula. Cook for 3 minutes each side and transfer to a plate.
- Add a little more olive oil and repeat with the remaining mixture. You should get about 12 fritters.
- In the meantime, mix the hot sauce and mayonnaise in a bowl and set aside. Prepare the garnishes if using.
- Serve the fritters with the hot mayo sauce on the side.
Love this recipe & have made it several times <3
Thanks,Terri 🙂
Hi Irena,
I am a devoted fan and love your recipes. I am having a function in a couple of months and would love to serve these prawn fritters. Can they be made ahead and frozen before defrosting and cooking on the day?
Yes, I think you should be able to do so. I would lay them out on a tray so they are not overlapping and freeze for an hour before transferring to a freezer bag/container. Then when defrosting, do the reverse. Lay them out on a tray, defrost in the fridge overnight and then out of the fridge, and then cook. You can sprinkle them with a little extra flour to absorb some of the moisture.
I would love to give these a try! Could I use either all coconut flour or sub in arrowroot or almond flour to make these low carb? Thanks so much!
Hi Kathey, they are already pretty low carb 1.7 net carbs per fritter (only 1/4 cup cassava/tapioca flour is used for ALL fritters). But you could use almond meal instead of cassava if you want to make it even lower carb.
These were delicious!!! Soo much flavour!! Have made these a few times and love them especially with the sauce!!! Love your recipes!!
Thanks so much, glad you liked these and other dishes.