Fabulous and Light Coconut Shrimp

Shrimp. I always like it, and there are so many different ways to experiment with shrimp. They are super fast and easy to make. I've been buying my shrimp at Costco lately, they have a sea food stand at my Costco with shrimp, scallops, lobster tails and crab legs and I believe clams. Prices are pretty reasonable, also... so every time I am shopping at Costco I pick up shrimp or scallops... whatever I am in the mood for. I take it home and later on I try to come up with a simple but different recipe. I don't usually make the same thing too many times, because there are so many other, great ways to make the same main ingredient over and over... I get back to that recipe once on a while, but not too often. It's just more fun to experiment...



It's been so cold outside, seems like that winter is never going to end. Thinking about summer or being somewhere tropical makes me want to eat light and try summer flavors... so last week I decided to make my version of coconut shrimp. And they turned out awesome. This recipe has a very light coconut-panko crusting, not like some of the places serve those deep fried shrimp drenched in thick layer of flour and little coconut, the only thing you taste is the breading. I had a great share of those in my life. Always sounds so good when you read it on the menu and once you try it - not so much!

This is really easy and pretty fast. I know I will be serving those on my next Luau Party - hopefully this coming summer...



I had about a pound of larger shrimp, maybe 13-18 per pound. Not sure exactly. Butterfly the shrimp, cutting along the outside (where the vein was). Mix one tsp. of coarse sea salt with 1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper. Sprinkle over the dried shrimp (I path dry them with paper towel). Make an egg wash - 2 eggs lightly beaten with about 2 TBS. of water. On the shallow dish mix about a 3/4 cup of sweetened shredded coconut and 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs.
Take the srimp, dip it in the egg wash, and roll in to the coconut-panko mix. Repeat several times. Heat some peanut oil and canola oil together, on the pan, set about 6-7 shhrimp on the hot oil, and fry until golden brown. Make sure to turn them every couple of minutes to get them brownes on each side.

The light part comes from nod deep frying those coconut shrimp, just lightly browning on 50-50 canola-peanut oil. And I served those just with a little bit of fresh squeezed lime juice. But a nice mango dipping sauce would be perfect. I will be making this one again, shortly - just because it was such a great dish, that I will try to make a dipping sauce to go with it, and I'll post it here to share my experiment with you...