I almost didn’t want to make this dish. I’ve eaten so many pounds of amazing coconut shrimp, I thought, why mess with a good thing? But I love to tinker and let me tell you, this version takes them to a whole new level.
The curry and hotsauce add a little kick 1n the pants and when dipped in the tangy and sweet sauce, oh boy! I did utilize my own hotsauce recipe – Gold Juice – but you can sub another habanero based sauce such as Melinda’s.
This is an amazing appetizer BUT make no mistake, you can shovel enough of these treats in your mouth to make it an entire dinner. Add a Caribbean slaw recipe to it and you’re good to go!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb Tail-on, peeled and deveined shrimp - 16/20
- 1/2 cup AP flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tsp fine kosher salt
- 2 tsp Black pepper - fresh cracked
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 2 large eggs - beaten
- 1 TBSP Coconut extract
- 1 TBSP Habanero hotsauce - or Melinda's
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup Coconut flakes - sweetened
- 4 cups Coconut oil - refined
Dipping sauce
- 1/4 cup Orange marmalade
- 1/4 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
- 1-2 tsp Habanero hotsauce - adds heat
Instructions
- Turn oven on lowest setting. Set aside quarter sheet pan
- Make the sauce. Mix marmalade, thai sauce and hotsauce well. Refrigerate.
- In shallow bowl, mix flour, cornstarch and 1 tsp each of curry, salt, pepper
- In another bowl, mix beaten eggs, extract and hot sauce
- In another bowl, mix together panko and coconut and 1 tsp each of curry, salt, pepper
- Coat several shrimp at a time in flour mixture, dip into eggs and finally, coat in coconut/panko. Set shrimp on sheet tray, place in fridge while oil heats up. You can also do this well ahead 1-2 hours in fridge.
- Place coconut oil in dutch oven and bring to 360F under steady heat. Use a thermometer! When temp is stable, fry shrimp in small batches (5-6) to not overcrowd the pot. Fry 2.5 – 3 minutes until golden brown. Remove and place on sheet tray lined with paper towel and put in warm oven between batches.
- Optional: garnish with minced chives or cilantro
Frying tip:
- Bring your oil up to 360F initially and lower the heat to keep it there. When each batch goes in, you'll need to crank up the heat as it will quickly drop to the low 330s. Return oil to 360F before starting next batch. Managing your frying temp is the key to achieving the perfect crispiness!
Notes
The secret to this recipe, as is the secret to most… work with fresh food… especially when dealing with seafood! Shrimp should be firm to touch with tails intact and not smell too fishy! Almost all shrimp today is flash frozen on the boat, so don’t be afraid of frozen shrimp. The shrimp in the grocery (unless is says otherwise) was frozen and dethawed in the store… for how long, is the question. If you live in a southern coastal city, you’re lucky to have fresh!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
