Senegalese shrimp fritters in batter, fried, served with chili sauce. Coastal Lebou fishing-village specialty.
Lebou fisherfolk of the Cap-Vert peninsula (Yoff, Ouakam, Ngor) where shrimp are caught daily. The beignet form is French-colonial — Lebou cooks adapted the technique mid-20th century, replacing the more traditional whole-fish grilling with battered shrimp for tourists and the Plateau bourgeoisie.
Restaurant Le Lagon I at Ngor Island (since 1971) is famous for the dish. Lebou fishing villages caught 12,000 tonnes of shrimp in 2021 per Senegal fisheries authority; foreign-fleet competition has driven prices up 40% since 2015. The chili sauce uses red-and-green scotch bonnet blended raw.
Crackling-crisp gold batter, pink shrimp visible through the shell — the shrimp curl tight. Hot, slightly sweet from the batter, briny inside. Dipped in kaani chili-vinegar sauce or a simple lemon. Often served as apéro with a chilled cold-bissap.
Tempura-style batter (flour, ice water, single egg yolk, mixed lumpy not smooth) keeps batter light; shrimp deveined but tails left on for grip. Fried 175°C 90 seconds — over-cook and shrimp turn rubber, batter goes brown. Drained on paper, no double-fry.
Variations
Lebou standard (whole tempura-style), Casamance version (split shrimp, palm oil fry), Saint-Louisian (with capitaine-fish addition), and the Dakar nightclub apéro version served on cocktail picks.
On the Palate
Where Beignets de Crevettes sits in the Senegalese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
3 steps · 16 min
- 18 min
Mix 500 g chopped shrimp with 100 g flour + 1 egg + 1 chopped onion + cilantro + salt.
Watch outMix just until it holds together in a rough, lumpy batter — over-stirring makes the fritters dense and heavy.
- 26 min
Drop tablespoons into 180 °C oil; fry 3 min until golden.
Watch outKeep the oil at a steady lively sizzle and pull the fritters the moment they're golden — a shade too long and the shrimp go rubbery.
- 32 min
Serve with chili dipping sauce.
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