Coconut Fried Shrimp

SO, tonight is date night.  I'm making coconut shrimp.  I'll save the healthy eating for the work week.     

Start with 3/4lb. raw shrimp.
I always look for wild caught in the USA.  Always check where they come from.  Thailand, Indonesia, Belize all have much lower health and safety standards for farm raising seafood than the US does.  Also,  the US hardly regulates the seafood coming in from these places...  All this to say, don't mess around with the shrimp.  Spend a few dollars more and buy the best ones.  Whether you buy peeled, de-veined, frozen, it doesn't matter.  Peel, de-vein, and thaw them and we are ready to go!!

I always rinse the shrimp first (especially if I de-veined them) and lay them on a paper towel to dry.  - Oh yea, take the tails off too.  Make sure the shrimp are very dry before you start or the batter will slide off when we start working.

OK, we need 3 bowls, 1 for each part of our batter. 

First Bowl, 1/2 C Flour, 1 tsp Cayenne, 1 tsp. onion Powder, 1 tsp garlic powder
(This is where you can change up this recipe.  Add extra cayenne, or even cumin or paprika.)

Second Bowl, 2 eggs, salt and pepper (however much you want - I did about a tsp of each)

Third bowl, 1/2 C Panko Bread Crumbs (if yours are too big, put them through a food processor - we want a pretty fine consistency that will stick to the shrimp), and 1/2 C Shredded sweetened coconut

This is how they will look....

Take the dried-off shrimp one at a time and dip into each batter.  Start with flour, then egg, then coconut.  Lay them on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes.  This will allow the batter time to harden a bit and really stick to the shrimp so it won't fall off in the hot oil.

Heat about a 1/2 inch of peanut oil in the bottom of your pan.  I put a wooden spoon in the oil and when it starts to bubble around the spoon, the oil is hot.  Fry them about 3 minutes on each side and place them on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Top with salt, pepper and plenty of lime and serve!

We love this meal with roasted corn and pina coladas!! 

 ENJOY!!

Coconut Shrimp:
3/4 lb. raw shrimp
1/2 C. panko bread crumbs
1/2 C. Shredded Coconut
1/2 C. flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. Cayenne
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Lime for Serving