Name: Jopen
Address: Gedempte Voldersgracht 2, Haarlem, 2011 WD, NL
Telephone: 023 533 4114
Price range: €€
Rating: 2.2

Netherlands

Haarlem

Jopen

Japan

Ebi furai is the Japanese breaded prawn: a large prawn straightened and stretched to the length of a finger, coated in flour, egg and panko, and deep-fried until the crumb is golden and spiky while the flesh inside is just set. It is a yōshoku dish, one of the Western-derived preparations Japan adapted from the Meiji era onward, and it sits with tonkatsu and korokke in the family of fried cutlets served with shredded raw cabbage, a lemon wedge, rice and either tonkatsu sauce or tartar sauce. Nagoya treats it as a local speciality and serves it in sets of three or five enormous prawns, sometimes in a sandwich; a running joke that the city's dialect turns ebi furai into "ebi furyaa" turned into a genuine identity, and the dish is now listed among Nagoya's named foods. Elsewhere it is a bento and kissaten standard and a fixture of children's menus.

The prawn is the whole job. Kuruma ebi, the Japanese tiger prawn, is the traditional choice and black tiger or whiteleg prawns the common substitute; it is shelled to the last tail segment, deveined, and then the underside is scored with four or five shallow cuts and the body pressed flat until it stops curling, which is what gives ebi furai its straight, rigid shape. It is dried, dusted in flour, dipped in egg and rolled in coarse, fresh panko, the large Japanese breadcrumb that fries into a loose, airy shell rather than a dense one. The oil is held at around 175°C and the prawns fry for two to three minutes until the crumb is deep golden; any longer and the flesh toughens. They are drained standing on their tails so the crumb stays dry, and served within minutes, since panko goes soft quickly once it cools.

Judge the shape first: a good ebi furai is straight and long, with the tail fanned and the crumb standing up in distinct crisp flakes rather than a smooth shell. The flesh should be white, snappy and sweet, cooked to the point where it is just opaque, with no translucence at the centre and no rubbery chew. The crumb should be dry and crisp to the last bite and taste of oil only faintly. Mark down a curled prawn that was not straightened, a soggy or greasy crumb from oil that was too cool or from sitting under a lid, a crumb that falls away from the prawn in a sleeve because it was not dried before coating, a small prawn padded out with thick breading, and an overcooked prawn that squeaks against the teeth. Tartar sauce made in house, with egg, pickle and onion, is a point in favour; a packet is not.

Ebi furai

Worst ebi fry I have ever eaten. Sauce was worst as well. Just take this whole dish out of the menu and keep serving good beers please.

Jopen

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