Leahs Coconut Jerked Shrimp

Now if you haven’t yet made your own coconut shrimp, this recipe couldn’t be easier. I adore coconut shrimp, and since it is so easy to make at home, I can save my money on something else with the way prices are soring these days from everything like eggs to gas. This is great to make as a party appetizer as well!

Ingredients:

4-6 shrimp per person- deveined, cleaned, shells removed, tails intact
2 large eggs
1/8 cup corn starch
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 good shakes of red chili peppers
2-3 tablespoons jerk seasonings
1 teaspoon freshly cracked tri-colored pepper
1/4 to1/2 cup water
1-2 cups of shredded coconut, spread out in shallow pan
Vegetable oil to fry shrimp in
wax paper and plate or plater that can go into freezer
paper towels for draining shrimp after cooking
Fresh lemon wedges to serve with shrimp
Dipping sauce of your choosing – I used my ‘Best Homemade Tartar Sauce’ (already posted)

Directions:

After cleaning shrimp, drain and place on paper towels to pat shrimp dry.
In Bowl, put all other ingredients except coconut to make batter, With whisk, stir till all well combined. Let sit for five minutes so ingredients can ‘get to know’ one another. If batter is too thick, you may add more water to thin it out, it should be less thick than pancake batter, yet not thin like crepe batter.
Line your plate or platter that will go into freezer with wax paper and place next to bowl with coconut.
Dip shrimp holding to tail into batter, let excess drip off, then place battered shrimp into coconut. Flip over once, so that coconut has coated shrimp. Use fingers to gently throw coconut onto batter on shrimp to coat.
Next place shrimp onto waxed paper. Continue with all other shrimp.
Once compete, place coated shrimp that is sitting on platter with wax paper into freezer to ‘set up’ for one hour or more.
I used my wok to fry the shrimp since it would allow me to fry six at a time – have at least 1/2 inch of oil.
Heat up oil to 350 degrees – or to test if oil is hot enough, place a small cube of bread in, and see that it browns quickly.
Cooking times may vary depending upon size of shrimp you are using.
So add shrimp carefully to hot oil, and let cook for about 4 minutes on each side depending upon the size of your shrimp – the shrimp I cooked were the colossal sized ones and extra huge, so you may want to adjust the time accordingly.
Once each shrimp is done, using tongs or slotted spoon, take out of hot oil, let drain a bit and then place on paper towels on a plate to further drain.
Serve your shrimp up with fresh lemon wedges and your dipping sauces could be anything from a mustard apricot jam concoction, to my tarter sauce (already posted) which is what I did. This dish I served last night also includes with Notyourmomma’s Garlic French Fries with added rosemary and Leah’s French Fried Onion Circles (just posted) as photo shows.

Quick Shrimp Hoisin or Shrimp with Cashews

Easy and quick and oh so tasty, I had to share this concoction I made last night. The colors are bright, the food healthy - serve it up with cilantro basmati rice as shown in photo. You could easily grill or sautee shrimp as well which I had originally intended to, but ended up stir frying them - the shrimp were extra juicy and bursted with amazing flavors when bitten into - now that's what I am talking about!...

Ingredients

5 jumbo shrimp per person - with shells still on, yet de-veined and cleaned. - Available this way as frozen in bags and per pound in your fish section as the store. (I went with the frozen and pick your own - they are already cleaned, deveined and can easily be thawed quickly in cold water which is what I did) - these shrimp satisfy super-picky people with their freshness - as they are cleaned and frozen basically right on the boat.
1 large red sweet bell pepper
1 large onion, cut up into large slices
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons fresh minced cilantro
2 scallions chopped
1 cup or more of snap peas
1/2 cup cashews (optional)
red chili flakes (optional)
***For marinade:
Juice and zest of one lemon
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (available in the Asian section of your grocery store - I prefer Kikomen' Hoisin Sauce) - really makes the dish!
1-2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon or more of sesame oil - really makes the dish!
1 teaspoon sugar
******
***Cooked rice ready to serve since this dish cooks up quite quickly.

Directions

Take shrimp and quick thaw if frozen in cold water, rinsing water every so often. Once thawed, drain well and pat dry shrimp well with paper towels.
In bowl, place juice and zest of one lemon, hoisin sauce, olive oil, good amount of salt and fresh cracked pepper, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Stir ingredients in bowl till incorporated.
Place now dried shrimp into bowl to marinade for at least 10 minutes and up to 2 hours for extra full flavor - stir on occasion to ensure all shrimp are covered with marinade.
***At this point, you can take shrimp outside to grill or with a little oil and butter in pan and sautee in your skillet, but the following directions is for stir frying with the remaining ingredients.
Get your wok super hot.
While wok is getting hot, cut up your red pepper, rinse your snap peas and cut up your onion.
Carefully add your wok oil or vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons and slowly tilt your wok so that oil bastes the bottom of your wok. I used stir fry oil flavored with garlic and ginger and added a little sesame oil to the mix.
Carefully add onions and peppers to your wok, since some splattering may occur due to the hot oil. Stir frequently.
Add some salt and pepper and if you would like, some red chili flakes.
Once onions and peppers cook for three minutes, add shrimp.
Since shrimp are jumbo, get them to be at the bottom, while pushing onion and peppers aside. Turn shrimp over when one side of shrimp is pink.
Add scallions, garlic and snap peas to wok. Continue cooking till shrimp are cooked (hey take one out and taste-test it like I did and you'll know you are ready!)
You may want to add 1 teaspoon sugar, additional soy sauce, hoisin sauce or sesame sauce which I did with fantastic results.
Add fresh cilantro and optional cashews just before serving.
Serve immediately with your rice or other chosen side.
I served mine up with my 'basmati oh so nice rice' with extra minced cilantro and minced scallions added at the last moment and stirred into rice just before serving. But this would also go very well over pasta or Chinese noodles. Enjoy!