Coconut Shrimp
My husband and I were craving shrimp the other night, so I decided to make homemade Coconut shrimp from Southern Living. I preferred making the dipping sauce below versus the honey mustard sauce suggested in the recipe.
Coconut Shrimp Dip
1/4 Cup Apricot Jam
1/4 Cup Sweet Chili Sauce
I originally asked for 1-1/2 lbs of raw shrimp, but after seeing the large amount, I decided to cut it down to 1-1/4 lbs. This would be a perfect amount for 4 people. To peel the shrimp, pinch the top of the tail to hold it in place and then remove the legs and shell. Deveining a shrimp means that you need to remove the colored thread on the back of the shrimp. My shrimp were already cut on the spine, so I just used a knife to remove the thread from a few of them. Make sure they are all washed and dried.
Spray a wire rack on a jelly roll pan with cooking spray. When I cooked the 1-1/4 lbs of shrimp, I needed two racks and cooked them in different batches. Whisk the egg whites until foamy in a bowl. For the other two parts of the coating I used rimmed plates. On one of the plates, combine the cornstarch and jerk seasoning. I could not find jerk seasoning at the grocery store, so I mixed some spices together to replicate it. On another plate, mix together the coconut, breadcrumbs, and paprika. Cut back on the paprika if you do not like some spicy food.
The following is the order in which to coat the shrimp
Cornstarch
Egg Whites
Coconut
The recipe called for spraying the shrimp with cooking spray, but I decided to skip that part. I have never heard of this before and they did not stick to the wire rack. Repeat these steps for each shrimp.
Bake the shrimp for 10-12 minutes and rotate after 8. While they are baking, stir together the apricot jam and sweet chili sauce for the dip.
I would not say this recipe is as quick as it seems because it took awhile to prepare the shrimp. The recipe said 20 minutes, but it took maybe double that time. One thing that is nice about this recipe is that it allows you to bake the coconut shrimp instead of requiring frying. Making these coconut shrimp could turn a basic steak dinner into a surf and turf meal.
