Banh Tom (Vietnamese Shrimp & Sweet Potato Fritters)

5 from 9 ratings

Banh Tom (Vietnamese Shrimp & Sweet Potato Fritters)

Inspired by the streets of Hanoi, my homemade banh tom recipe is made by mixing shrimp and thinly sliced sweet potatoes into a thick batter, then frying until golden and crunchy. Serve the fritters with fresh herbs and nuoc cham for dipping

Prep Time30

Cook Time1

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: banh tom, banh tom recipe, Vietnamese sweet potato fritters

Servings: people

Calories: 521kcal

Author: Becca Du

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup potato starch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 eggs
½ cup water
1 tsp salt
1 lb shrimp shell on, halved
2 lb sweet potatoes julienned

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients through salt in a large bowl. Whisk until a smooth, loose batter forms.
Pat dry the shrimp and sweet potatoes. They don’t have to be bone dry, but get as much of the liquid off them as possible. Add them to the bowl. Mix to coat them with the batter.
Heat a couple cups of oil to 300 degrees F. You can use a cast iron skillet, stainless steel pan/pot, or dutch oven. Make sure the oil is ~1 inch deep.
Cover a large plate with paper towels. This is where you will place the fritters after they’re done frying.
Using a ladle, scoop and drop the sweet potato fritters into the pan. Fry for 5-10 minutes until crispy on all sides. If the oil doesn’t fully cover the fritters, cook for 5 minutes on each side. When done, they should be a deep orange color and crispy all over.
Scoop each fritter onto the plate with the paper towels. The paper towels will soak up any excess oil. Repeat this process until all the fritters are done.
Serve with lettuce, mint, and nuoc cham. Other optional herbs and vegetables you can include are cucumbers, carrots, Thai basil, and rau ram (Vietnamese coriander).

Notes

I chose to use a loose batter because I like to see the orange color of the sweet potatoes. If you want to use a thicker batter, add more potato starch.
If you don't have potato starch, substitute with corn starch or rice flour.
How big should you cut the sweet potatoes? - The size of the sweet potatoes depends on your preference. I cut them about 1/2 inch thick and 2-3 inches long because I like bigger sweet potato sticks. It is also really labor intensive to cut sweet potatoes into small pieces. However, I found that the longer sweet potato pieces are harder to fry uniformly. The traditional size of the sweet potato pieces is a lot smaller. They are closer to 1/4 an inch and about 1-2 inches long.
Use a ladle to form uniform fritters - This is something I like doing. The ladle helps form uniform fritters. You can also use a spider strainer for this.
What if I want to use a thicker batter? - I personally like a thinner batter because I like to see the orange color of the sweet potatoes. You can definitely use a thicker batter. Add more potato starch or flour to make the batter thicker.

Nutrition