Crunchy and delicious coconut lime shrimps recipe
Whenever I make a recipe containing shrimps I love giving them a crunchy coating. So this coconut lime shrimp recipe is doing just that. It’s super easy to make and the perfect way to prepare delicious prawns!
Coconut lime shrimps
Growing up I never really liked shrimps. I was used to getting rubbery shrimp in dodgy restaurants and making them myself included cleaning them and I just hated that. Removing a poop shoot… and legs?? Yuck.
But ok, I wasn’t exactly a seafood fan in those days, so maybe it is not exactly representative of my current taste. In the meantime I got to really love good shrimps! That said I do like my shrimps to be on the crunchy side. I love tempura shrimps but these coconut lime shrimps are simply the best. With the taste of sweet coconut and delicious lime zest. You’re gonna love them too!
Making the coconut lime shrimps
For this coconut shrimp dish you do have to clean the shrimps first. Or – better option – buy raw shrimps that are already cleaned. Do make sure to double check if they are really clean as I have had my share of not so clean ones too. For this recipe you need large shrimps or prawns as that will make the process easier. Apart from that you don’t need that much else.
I do like to use the frozen cleaned shrimps for this. You can choose to either leave the shrimp tail on or off. It looks prettier with the tails on but it eats easier without. So your choice.
The original recipe for the coconut lime shrimps comes from the book Under the walnut tree which I totally loved. I’ve cooked from the book a number of times already and a favorite of mine
You start the process by mixing the panko and the grated coconut together with about half of the lime zest. In a second bowl you mix the egg with a little bit of water and salt. And a third small bowl with the flour.
The dipping order is flour first, egg and last the coconut panko mixture.
Once all prawns are dipped you place a large skillet on medium heat with coconut oil. Make sure the oil is hot enough. Instead of a large skillet you can also use a small saucepan if you don’t have a large batch.
Fry the coconut lime shrimps in hot oil golden brown in just a 1-2 minutes cook time. Don’t overcook them! Let them drain on paper towels before eating.
Serve with
Serving the coconut lime shrimps I like to use a mayonnaise based spicy dip. But you can use any kind of dip you like. Drizzle a little bit of lime juice over the shrimps too for some extra freshness.
Additions and variations
The basic recipe is pretty simple but you can always make easy variations. Adding some garlic or fresh ginger to the panko dip is delicious and will enhance the savory flavors of the crunchy shrimps. You can also vary with the dip. I sometimes like to make a dip with coconut aminos, sesame oil and lime juice. Adding some red pepper flakes to the panko before frying will also make it a bit spicier. The fun part is that you can make this shrimp recipe into a coconut lime chicken recipe as well. The recipe will work equally well with chicken!
Are you a coconut lover?
Check out these delicious coconut recipes too
Coconut lime shrimps
Ingredients
- 20 shrimps large ones
- 40 gr coconut grated
- 40 gr panko
- 1-2 limes zest
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp of water
- pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp of flour
- oil to fry in
Dipping
- sweet chili sauce or a mix of mayonnaise and chipotle
How to make the coconut lime shrimps
- Defrost the prawns and peel and clean them
- Mix the coconut and the panko together with about half of the lime zest. Put in a bowl.
- Mix the egg with the water and salt in a second bowl
- Put the flour in the third bowl.
- Make a little production line in this order: raw prawns, bowl of flour, bowl of egg, bowl of coconut-panko mixture and lastly a big plate.
- Take the prawns piece by piece by their tails and first drag them through the flour, then through the egg and last through the panko mixture. Put them on a plate
- Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan and fry the prawns until golden and brown.
- Make sure you don’t put too many prawns in the pan (it will cool of too much and the fat will get into the coconut mix)
- Take the prawns out of the oil and leave them to drain on kitchen paper.
- Sprinkle the rest of the lime zest over them and serve with chili sauce. A mix of mayonnaise with a bit of chipotle sauce will also be delicious
Nutrition Information per portion
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
