Approximately 8 years ago, Jim and I met for the first time at a local restaurant. Along with some red wine, we ate some delicious appetizers one of which was Coconut Shrimp. We also consumed some brie with fruit and baguettes and some other things, but I can’t remember because I kind of got lost in his blue eyes and compassionate manner. This year, we decided to prepare our anniversary dinner at home to recreate that first official meeting. I believe we had a sweet orange sauce to go with the shrimp, however, raspberries are a favorite of ours. We created a Raspberry Firecracker Sauce, a sweet and spicy combination, to accompany this memory.
It’s really quite easy, especially when you have everything prepped ahead of time. I used colossal-sized shrimp for this recipe. We used a 12 ounce package of tail-on peeled and deveined shrimp instead of a pound. They were frozen and the store only had one package left. Thaw them according to package directions and pat dry before proceeding with the recipe.
On the counter, prepped in a line is the flour, salt and pepper, whisked together, the 2 beaten eggs, and the panko breadcrumbs tossed with the coconut. First, place each shrimp in the flour mixture. Then coat it with the beaten eggs. Finally, press it into the panko and coconut mixture. Lay them on a paper towel until ready to cook.
Now that every is ready to cook, place the coconut oil in your saucepan. Place about 1/2 cup of coconut oil in saucepan, solid or liquid form. Add more if you feel you need it. Position shrimp in pan once oil is heated, being careful not to overcrowd them. Cook each side for about 2 minutes or a little more allowing coconut to acquire a light golden color.
Once cooked, place shrimp on paper towels to help absorb the extra oil. Before adding the next batch of shrimp in the pan, I strained off any coconut remaining in the pan through a fine-mesh strainer into a glass measuring cup then returned oil to the pan. Add additional oil at this point if you think it’s required.
To make the Coconut Shrimp perfect, serve with your favorite sauce, or my favorite sauce, the Raspberry Firecracker Sauce.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
- 1 # Jumbo or Colossal shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail-on
- ¾ c. panko crumbs
- 1 c. sweetened coconut
- ⅓ c. flour
- ½ t. salt
- ½ t. pepper
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- coconut oil for frying
- Thaw shrimp according to directions if using frozen shrimp. Pat dry.
- Whisk together flour, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Beat the 2 large eggs in another small bowl.
- In a cake-sized pan, toss together the coconut and panko breadcrumbs.
- Place each shrimp, one at a time , into the flour mixture to coat.
- Dip shrimp into the beaten eggs and allow excess to drip off.
- Next, press both sides of shrimp into coconut/panko mixture. Place onto a paper towel until ready to cook.
- Heat oil on medium-low heat.
- Place shrimp in heated oil and cook each side for about two minutes or until coconut is a light golden color. Put on paper towel to absorb any excess oil before serving.
