I love shrimp and could eat them every day. One of my favourites to order at a restaurant is coconut shrimp.
Since we can easily get fresh shrimp, I decided to try my hand at coconut shrimp at home.
My brother-in-law has made baked coconut shrimp and shared the recipe with me from AllRecipes. I had to make some modifications, and I got some advice from a local restaurant, where I also got the coconut. Thanks to the chef for sharing!
Preheat the oven to 400. Peel, rinse and pat dry the shrimp. Lightly spray a baking pan. Then assemble the batter ingredients in three separate dishes.
I didn’t have cornstarch or flour, so I improvised by using pancake batter for the dredge, which is the first dish on the production line.
Second up is a beaten egg. The original recipe called for egg whites but I beat a whole egg.
The third batter dish is the coconut. I used coconut flakes, as the recipe called for, but I added some bread crumbs on the advice of the friendly chef. The bread crumbs add crispiness.
(Please note, you could modify the dredge and eliminate the crumbs to make this a gluten-free dish.)
Begin by dredging the shrimp in the cornstarch (pancake batter in this instance). Then put it in the egg.
Finally, put it in the coconut mixture. I did several shrimp at a time. Once they are battered fully, place them on the baking dish.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning the shrimp halfway through the baking. These were smaller shrimp so I kept my eye on them to ensure I didn’t over-cook them.
I made a mango dip but the recipe also suggested orange marmalade as a dipping sauce.
These would be great as an appetizer, but we had them as our main course along with some pasta. They were crispy and delicious!
theardizan 