Shellfish beignets

Tamara West

It’s hard to go past a beignet or a croquette for that matter, but you do need to get out your deep fryer (or pot of oil) and apron, as shellfish can sometimes spit a bit during frying. I have used already cooked clams and mussels, but you could steam fresh ones if you prefer.

Ingredients

½ cup	Flour
¼ tsp	Salt
1	Egg, separated
1 Tbsp	Olive oil
½ cup	Beer, not chilled
500 g	Clams, we used Omega blanched and vacuum packed (Main)
500 g	Cooked mussels, gourmet (Omega) (Main)
150 g	Scallops, orange roe removed
150 g	Prawn cutlets, raw, tail shell removed
4 cups	Vegetable oil, for frying
1	Lemon, or lime, cut into wedges for serving
1 packet	Aioli, for serving (I used a store bought chilli and lime aioli)
1 handful	Salad greens, optional

Directions

1. Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl and make a well in the centre.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolk, oil and beer until combined then pour into the well. Whisk until just combined. Cover the bowl and leave to stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
3. Bring ¼ cup water to a boil in a small frying pan, reduce the heat to medium and place in the prawns. Cook until they just turn pink, then remove and cut in half. Cook scallops for 30 seconds-1 minute, depending on their size, and cut in half if necessary.
4. Remove the clams and mussels from their shells. Discard the shells. Cut in half if large. Place all shellfish in a bowl, cover and refrigerate.
5. Heat the oil in a deep heavy-based saucepan (or use a deep fryer) until 170-175C or when you drop in a small piece of bread it should turn golden in about 30 seconds.
6. Whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form (should be same consistency more or less as the batter), and fold into the batter. Remove shellfish from fridge and fold the batter into the shellfish.
7. Drop 4 Tbsp of batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Remove fritters with a slotted spoon and drain on crumpled kitchen paper. Repeat with remaining batter.
8. Serve shellfish fritters with aioli and lemon or lime wedges and a few salad leaves if wished.

Kathy recommends

Remove roe from scallops as it is the roe that tends to break up and spit during frying. If you find your fritters are browning too quickly before the batter is quite cooked, or you want to keep them warm while finishing frying, place them on a shallow baking tray lined with baking paper and put in the oven (180C) for about 5 minutes.