Shrimp Accra (Caribbean Fritters)
Trinidad Style Shrimp Accra
One of my personal favourite snacks for iftar during Ramadan is shrimp accra and if you love shrimp you will love it too! It has the perfect amount of crisp with the most succulent shrimp. The nice thing about this recipe is that it uses traditional Trinidadian fresh seasonings, such as pimento peppers, onion, garlic, green onion, and more! Trinidad shrimp accra are a popular street food snack that you can find easily, pretty much anywhere in Trinidad. It is not Trinidad-exclusive, though, and can be found anywhere in the Caribbean with different variations.
These shrimp accra make the perfect finger foods for a crowd. They are also great during Ramadan at iftar an iftar party (which is my favourite time to devour them). They are real crowd-pleasers! Serve them with your favourite sauce and you're good to go!
This recipe doesn't require you to be in the kitchen for hours. Simply prep and combine the ingredients, let them sit for 30 mins, and then fry. You'll have a mouthwatering, satisfying snack in no time.
As I mentioned above, these Shrimp Accra make absolutely perfect snacks, appetizers, or Ramadan iftar food. I also recently learned that many people eat accra for breakfast, which I'm not at all opposed to. So there you go!
Ingredients Needed
These are the simple ingredients that you will need to make this quick and easy recipe:
Shrimp: you can use any type of shrimp you like. You will need to peel, devein, and cut the shrimp into 2 equal pieces.
All-purpose flour: this is used as the base of the batter mixture.
Baking powder: helps puff up the fritters while frying.
Onion/garlic/pimento pepper/green onion/scotch bonnet pepper: these are the fresh seasonings that are used to add the delicious taste to the shrimp accra. Pimento peppers do not have any heat to them, but are very tasty. Scotch bonnet peppers have a lot of heat, which is why they are optional in the recipe.
Water: helps create the batter.
How to Make Shrimp Accra
Shrimp accra requires pretty basic ingredients that work together so well and add a lot of flavour. Follow these simple instructions for the most delicious shrimp accra. These instructions are easy to follow and will result in pillowy soft, crispy on the outside, Caribbean Shrimp Accra.
Prep the Aromatics
Start by chopping all of your aromatics (onion, garlic, green onion, pimento pepper, and scotch bonnet pepper).
Prep the Shrimp
Wash the shrimp as you normally would. I highly suggest that you use large, raw shrimp, so that the texture and taste turns out good. Using cooked shrimp can result in a chewy texture. Remove the head if it’s not already, peel the shrimp, remove the tail, and devein. Cut each shrimp into 2-3 pieces. If you skip this part, the shrimp will be too big in each piece of accra. Smaller pieces will result in shrimp in each bite! You can even cut the shrimp into 4 pieces if you'd like tiny pieces of shrimp throughout. I personally prefer to have them cut in 2.
Combine the Ingredients
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper and mix well. Add the shrimp and onions/garlic/pimento/thyme/scotch bonnet and mix to combine.
Then slowly add water, mixing until you reach a thick pancake batter consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Fry the Accra
After resting, heat oil over medium heat. Once oil is hot, drop spoonfuls of the batter in the heated oil and fry on both sides until golden, about 2 minutes on each side! You want to make sure the temperature is well heated to medium, because you don't want the accra to soak up any excess oil. Remove cooked shrimp accra and place onto a plate with paper towels to drain. It’s that simple. You’re left with crispy fritters with succulent shrimp. I’m definitely making these again very soon!
Tips and Substitutions
- For the seasonings, you can add in other fresh seasonings if you would like, or you can even take something out. You can do this to suit your taste. Some ideas of what you can add: chadon beni (also known as culantro or bandanya), fresh thyme, celery, or chives. Whatever you use, ensure you finely chop it.
- You can use saltfish instead of shrimp, but that is a slightly different process.
- You can cut the shrimp up into more than 2 pieces, so you have littles bits of shrimp throughout and in every bite.
- If you prefer not to deep fry, you can shallow fry in less oil. Follow cooking instructions as normal, just use less oil. I would say about 1/2 inch of oil would suffice.
Storing Shrimp Accra
You can store accra in the fridge in an airtight container for 1-2 days. The sooner the better. To reheat, wrap accra in paper towel and warm them up in microwave, however warm you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is more of a process and will require more time. You will need a little bit less than 1/2 pound of boneless saltfish. You can find this in Caribbean/Latin/Asian/International supermarkets. In short, place the saltfish in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse the fish, and repeat the boiling process once more (this is removing the salt content). Rinse in cool water and squeeze out excess water. With fingers or fork, shred the saltfish into small pieces. Now it is ready to use and you can follow the recipe instructions as normal, replacing the shrimp with saltfish. Also, omit the salt in the recipe as saltfish will still carry enough salt, even after boiling.
You can use a medium sized spoon or cookie scoop to spoon the batter into the hot oil. It should be about 2-3 tbsp if batter per accra.
Looking for more Ramadan recipes? Try these Spicy Beef Samosa, Crispy Potato Samosa, Chocolate Covered Dates, Coconut Shrimp, and Strawberry Oat Smoothie
Delicious fritters from the Caribbean. Perfectly succulent shrimp tossed in a perfectly seasoned batter and fried to perfection.
- 1 lb shrimp (shelled, deveined, head cut off)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 small onion, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 pimento pepper, diced finely
- 1 stalk green onion, sliced finely
- 1 sprig thyme (remove leaves from stem)
- hot pepper, such as scotch bonnet, finely chopped (use disposable gloves) (optional)
- 1 cup warm water
- oil for frying
- Prepare shrimp by washing, shelling, deveining, and cutting head off. Once this is done, cut each shrimp into 2-3 pieces. Set aside.
- Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper. Add onion, garlic, pimento, green onion, thyme, and hot pepper (optional)--stir until well combined. Add the shrimp and stir to combine.
- Gradually add water and mix until a nice thick consistency has been reached. It should be almost like pancake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 mins in fridge.
- Heat oil in a pot over medium high heat (temp should be 325F-360F). Once hot, scoop about 2-3 tbsp of batter and drop into hot oil. Cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Do not overcrowd pot. Once cooked, drain on paper towel.
- Let fried accra rest for 5 minutes, then serve with your favourite dipping sauce!
- Be sure the oil is not scorching hot. This will cause the accra to become too brown on the outside without being cooked on the inside.
- Delicious with mango or tamarind chutney.
