21 Asian Shrimp Recipes (Better Than Takeout!)

Imagine biting into succulent and tender shrimps, and you get big, bold, and intense flavors that tickle your taste buds. Doesn’t that sound amazing? If this is what you’re craving, try Asian shrimp recipes. The savory, sweet, and spicy elements of Asian cuisine are exactly what you need to take your shrimp dishes to a new level. what

So what are you waiting for? Check out the top 21 Asian Shrimp recipes we’ve rounded up below.

21 Asian Shrimp Recipes to Try at Home

There’s no denying it. Asian flavors bring out the sweet, savory, and spicy side of shrimp, and here are 21 Asian shrimp recipes to prove that.  

Appetizers

Asian recipes would be the last thing you’d think of when preparing appetizers, but check out these two Asian shrimp appetizer ideas to start your meal in the most delicious way possible.

1. Okoy (Filipino Shrimp Fritters)- Crunchy Yet Healthy

If you’re looking for a unique shrimp appetizer that will wow your guests and family, you should try this Filipino classic.

The fritters are battered and made with grated sweet potatoes, cornstarch, shrimp, and seasonings that are deep-fried to perfection.

Serve it the Filipino way by adding whole shrimp. Yes—heads included! Also, make sure to serve this with spiced vinegar as a dipping sauce.

Pro Tip: For a healthier twist, swap the sweet potato with grated pumpkin instead.  

2. Shrimp Toast– Retro Chinese Appetizer

Chinese takeout lovers, here’s the recipe for you!

There’s no denying that shrimp toast is one of the most popular Chinese Takeout appetizers out there, but did you know you can easily make one at home?

It may seem like a complicated dish. However,  it’s simply shrimp puree with cilantro, scallions, and ginger spread on top of a slice of white bread, then pan-fried. It’s that simple!

Pro Tip: Leave the crusts on for a crispier texture.

Asian Shrimp Soup Recipes

If you’re looking for a comforting dish that will warm you up during cold nights, here are some Asian shrimp recipes you can try:

3. Shrimp Sinigang (Filipino Sour Soup) – All Flavors in One Bowl

With a sip of this heartwarming soup, you get to enjoy just about all the flavors you can think of—sweet, sour, and a little bit salty!

Do you know what the secret to this flavorful dish is? Tamarind paste! Filipinos prepare this using tamarind fruit, but you can simply grab a bottle of tamarind paste from the nearest Asian store.

Aside from having all flavors imaginable, it also contains a variety of vegetables like okra, eggplant, snake beans, and many more.

Pro Tip: Serve this with a side of fish sauce if you want more saltiness.

4. Thai Shrimp Soup– Creamy with a Dash of Spicy  

Do you fancy Thai takeout more than Chinese takeout? If so, you must add this Thai Shrimp Soup to your menu.

This homemade coconut curry soup is creamy and packed with spices that will tickle your taste buds.

The soup envelops the light and mildly flavored shrimp with a rich and creamy broth that feels like a warm embrace. Add lime juice to give the soup’s richness a refreshing contrast.

Pro Tip: Serve this with a warm cup of white rice so you can have something to soak up the soup-y goodness.

5. Shrimp Laksa– Cozy and Spicy

Regarding Asian soups, nothing is more slurp-worthy than this famous spicy noodle soup from Malaysia.

Fun Fact: Laksa has often been included in various “Best Foods in the World” lists, so it’s a definite must-try. (*)

There are many variations of this soup depending on the region. But basically, it has coconut milk as the base and a whole bunch of red chilis to spice things up.

The highlight of this dish is the laksa paste which is a mixture of various seasonings and condiments such as:

• shrimp paste,
• shallots,
• lemongrass,
• tamarind,
• and dried chilies.

Warning: Please take note most laksa pastes also contain cashews, so it may not be the best option for people with nut allergies.

Main Dishes

And of course, here’s the best part—the main dishes! Impress your guest with these delicious Asian shrimp recipes:

6. Salt and Pepper Shrimp– Quickest and Simplest

When you take a bite of this simple shrimp recipe, you won’t believe it’s only salt and pepper. While it contains only two simple seasonings, its taste is quite complex and truly irresistible.

That’s because salt and pepper bring out the shrimp’s sweet, salty, and a bit fishy flavor. Since it doesn’t contain any complex sauce, it allows the seafood’s natural flavor to take center stage.

Pro Tip: Toast the salt and pepper mixture before adding it to the shrimp to make it more fragrant.

7. Halabos na Hipon– Sweet and Simple

And we have another sweet and simple recipe, but this time it’s from the Philippines. Halabos na Hipon is fresh shrimp cooked in lemon or lime soda and plenty of minced garlic.

The result? You get a sweet, irresistibly sticky, garlicky shrimp dish that you won’t get enough of.

Pro Tip: You can add butter for a richer shrimp flavor.

8. Chili Garlic Shrimp– Spicy, Sticky, and Flavorful

Imagine this: fresh, tender, and succulent shrimp perfectly coated with a spicy and sticky garlic chili sauce. Now, that’s finger-lickin’ good, right?

Heads up, this might not be an authentic recipe. However, the sauce contains ingredients that are found in most Asian recipes, such as:

• Ginger,
• Sriracha,
• Soy sauce,
• Chili flakes,
• Sesame seeds,
• Red chilies,
• and green onions.

So try this because it’s almost like the real deal.  

9. Firecracker Shrimp– Crispylicious and Spicylicious

Firecracker shrimp is sweet, spicy, and everything nice!

We know there are a lot of Asian sweet and spicy shrimp out there, but this one’s pretty unique. What makes it stand out is the shrimps are first lightly breaded and crisped to perfection before being coated with the addictively sweet, spicy, and sticky sauce.  

Pro Tip: Reduce the amount of Sriracha you put into the dish if you want to make it less spicy.

10.  Hoisin Shrimp– Dark and Flavorful

With its thick and dark sauce, Hoisin Shrimp may not look like the most appetizing shrimp recipe out there. But take a bite, and its strong sweet, and salty flavor will surely surprise you.

The best part is that this dish will give you maximum flavor with minimum effort because you can simply grab a bottle of Hoisin sauce in the grocery store.

Pro Tip: Serve it with rice or quinoa to balance off its intense flavors.

11.  Shrimp Korma– A Saucy Delight

This is the best starter curry to try for those intimidated by preparing curry dishes.

The dish features shrimp braised in a perfectly spiced velvety sauce with yogurt, butter, and nuts as its base. With all these ingredients in the mix, you get a rich and well-flavored saucy shrimp dish that would have everyone enjoying every drop.

Pro Tip: Naan or rice would be the perfect ingredient to soak up the dish’s flavorful gravy.  

12.  Honey Walnut Shrimp– A Hong Kong Favorite

Sweet and nutty—no better words describe this staple HK shrimp recipe. This dish contains crispy breaded shrimp tossed in a creamy sweet sauce. As if that’s not enough, it’s topped with sugar-glazed walnuts.

It’s one of the most expensive shrimp dishes on most menus, so who would have thought it’s just a simple recipe to make at home?

13.  Kung Pao Shrimp– Zesty and Flavorful Chinese Recipe

Sad Truth: Kung pao Shrimp contains lots of calories. (*)

Fun Truth: It’s worth it because of its wide range of flavors and textures.

Kung Pao Shrimp is zesty and flavorful, with a bit of heat. Not only that, it’s crunchy on the outside and tender and succulent on the inside.

And aside from the shrimp, the dish also contains different types of vegetables that boost the dish’s nutritional and fiber content.

14.  Shrimp Tempura– Light, Crispy, and Buttery

This list of Asian Shrimp recipes if we won’t include this Japanese favorite—shrimp tempura!

To prepare this, the shrimp are coated with tempura batter and deep-fried until it turns crispy and golden brown. It’s often served with a soy sauce-based dipping sauce.

There’s not much to say about this dish because it’s already everyone’s favorite, are we right?

Pro Tip: Mix flour with cornstarch or potato starch when making the batter for an extra-crispy dish.

15.  Orange Chicken– Sweet and Tangy

Orange chicken is sweet and tangy, making it everyone’s favorite Chinese takeout dish. But did you know that the Orange chicken in restaurants is made of sugar-packed sauces, which make it quite unhealthy? (*)

With that said, we highly suggest you learn how to prepare it to enjoy its highly addictive flavor without the guilt.

You can do this by using fresh orange juice instead of commercial ones. Opt for chicken breast, too, as it’s one of the healthiest parts of the chicken. (*)

Pro Tip: Ditch the breading to reduce the dish’s calorie content even more.

16.  Sesame Honey Shrimp– Sweet and Sticky

If you love sticky and saucy shrimp recipes, this Sesame Honey Shrimp is the real deal.

Prepare this meal for dinner; it will surely be your family’s next favorite meal. After all, who can say no to soft and chew shrimp perfectly glazed with a sticky, sweet, and salty sauce?

The best part is you can make this yummy dish in just one pan in just 20 minutes. How incredibly fast and easy is that?

17.  Tom Rim (Vietnamese Caramelized Shrimp)- Sweet, Savory, and Crispy

With this dish, the Vietnamese showed us how to create crispy shrimp without the need for batter! Instead, they taught us how to make the shrimp extra crunchy using their perfectly made glaze.

In addition to giving the shells the crunch it needs, the sweet and savory sauce also infuses the shrimps with intense flavor.

The best thing about this dish is it’s so quick to make. You can have an authentic Vietnamese shrimp dish in just 30 minutes.

Pro Tip: Use dark soy to give the shrimps a rich and vivid color.

18.  Gochujang Saewu Gui (Spicy Grilled Shrimp Skewers)– Perfect for Summer Barbecues

To take your barbecue parties to new heights, serve these Korean spicy grilled shrimp skewers. These shrimps are marinated in a special sauce made of the following ingredients:

• Gochujang sauce,
• Honey or sugar,
• Minced garlic,
• Lemon juice,
• and Olive oil.

The sauce gives the shrimp a savory, pungent, peppery, sweet, and spicy flavor. Combine these with the grill’s smoky flavor, and you get a shrimp dish people will be fighting all over for.

Noodle Dishes

19.  Shrimp Stir-fry Noodle– One-Pan Dish

You don’t need an elaborate recipe to make a delicious shrimp dish. Sometimes, the simple, the better. That’s what this dish is all about.

This one-pan dish is shrimp and different types of vegetables stir-fried in a simple mixture of soy sauce, sugar, lemon, and lime, so you get a sweet, savory, and citrusy taste in just one bite.

20.  Shrimp Yakisoba– Sweet- Savory Stir-fried Noodle

If you want a well-rounded meal with perfectly balanced flavors, Shrimp Yakisoba is an excellent option for you.

This noodle dish has cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and carrots that give the noodles a crunchy twist and the dose of fiber it needs. All these ingredients are flavored with Yakisoba sauce, giving it a sweet-savory spin.

Pro Tip: Give it the heat it needs by adding the chili-garlic sauce.

21.  Shrimp Lo Mein– Favorite Chinese Takeout

What can we say? Asians love their noodle dishes simple yet incredibly flavorful.

Case in point: Shrimp Lo Mein, a Chinese takeout dish made of noodles stir-fried with vegetables and shrimp and doused with the slightly sweet, savory, and garlicky Lo Mein sauce.

Up Next: What to Cook with Shrimp: 24 Shrimp-ly Amazing Recipes to try!