Coconut Shrimp

Hey all you seafood lovers out there! I finally found a great Coconut Shrimp recipe for ya that is super yummy.  Well at least the seafood lovers in my family loved it.  I like to just eat the breading :)  I also created my own pina colada dipping sauce to go with it, that I'll share with you tomorrow. I found this recipe in my new Taste of Home magazine.  I changed it up just a bit. 

The key that I have found over the years is that you never want to add wet, to wet when battering something.  I'll explain...  Shrimp, chicken etc, have a moist surface, so when you are dipping it straight into an egg batter, it doesn't stick as well.  But if you dip it into a dry ingredient like flour, first and then into the wet mixture (like egg) then back into a dry mix (coconut and bread crumbs) it turns out so much better.  The batter all sticks to each other so much better.  Their recipe, doesn't have you dip into the flour first.  I do want to say a little something about the Panko bread crumbs.  They are different than regular bread crumbs. I really like them.  You should be able to find them near the other bread crumbs at any grocery store. 

Coconut Shrimp

1 cup flour

1 egg

1 Tbsp water

1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)

1 cup flaked sweetened coconut

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Oil for frying

2 shallow bowls and 1 medium sized bowl

Add flour into a shallow bowl.  Into another, whisk egg and water together.  Combine bread crumbs and coconut into the medium size bowl. 

Dip shrimp into the flour and coat. Then dip into the egg mixture and coat.  Then roll into the coconut mixture, pressing the crumbs to the shrimp to coat well.

In a skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil at 357 degrees. ( I had it on about medium to medium low heat so it didn't brown to quickly) Fry a few at a time for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with Pina Colada dipping sauce.