Tropical Flavors for you snowbound mainlanders

[AlohaDawg]

I know many of you are in places where sand and waves would look pretty sweet about now...I miss the snow, myself, but I don't mind living here either. Anyhow, I made these the other night and Oh MY they were awfully good and really easy to make. This is a twofer, mix-and-match recipe but I guarantee the results if you get good ingredients.

Coconut Shrimp Lollipops with Sweet Dipping Sauce


Shrimps
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut OR 1 fresh coconut
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup beer
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg
12 shrimp, shelled and deveined (large; 16-20 count/lb is good, I used 'tiger' shrimp)
12 Bamboo Skewers, cut to about 5 inches
Peanut oil for frying

Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup Jam. (the recipe calls for Apricot. A more 'tropical' choice would be what I used, Guava Jelly)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds discarded, minced
2 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lime juice (I used 1 tablespoon of each)

_______________________________________ ____

Make the dipping sauce first, in order to get the flavors to blend and mellow. Just put them in the blender/food processor and process until smooth.

Once the sauce is chilling in the fridge, get going on the shrimps:

.5) Your shrimps are already shelled and deveined, right? You may want to soak them in brine for about 1/2 an hour; this helps them remain plump and juicy when cooking. Don't soak them too long; rinse off after 1/2 hour. Also, soak bamboo skewers for 10 minutes also - it's a good habit for when you use them on the grill. They don't catch on fire so easy. Not critical for deep frying, but good habits are encouraged.

.75) If you are using fresh coconut: Poke out one of the soft eyes of the coconut and save the coconut water. Crack the coconut with a hammer or the back of a cleaver, remove the meat. Peel off the brown skin from the shell side of the meat and grate the meat on the finest side of the grater.

1) heat your oil (about 3" deep) to 350 degrees. The temperature is important because you don't want raw shrimp inside of burnt breading, and you don't want oil-soaked breading on barely cooked shrimp. If you don't have an oil thermometer or a deep fryer with a reliable thermostat, try this: drop a small chunk of fresh bread into the oil. If it gets acceptably browned, like a golden, tasty crouton in 5-10 seconds then the oil is at about the right temperature.

2) While the oil is getting hot, combine in a large bowl: Flour, coconut water + enough beer to make 3/4 cup OR 3/4 cup of beer (if using store-bought shredded coconut), baking soda, salt, cayenne pepper. Mix and adjust the consistency of batter with either more beer or more flour until you have something similar to thick pancake batter.

3) Roll the shrimps up as tight as you can, pinwheel style, tucking the heads under the tail ends, and run one skewer through each but don't leave much skewer (if any) poking out the top. (lollipops, right?) Dry the shrimps with a paper towel.

4) Dip each shrimp into batter and then dredge in the coconut shreds. Make sure the whole shrimp is covered in both batter and coconut.

5) Cook lollipops 4-5 at a time (don't crowd your oil) shrimp down and sticks up. It should take only about one minute for the pops to be a beautiful golden brown. Rotate the stick once or twice within the minute, and pull them out when done. Skim the oil periodically for wayward shreds of coconut or breading or they will stick to your cooking pieces and burn. Drain cooked pieces on paper towels and serve in half of the coconut you cracked or in half of a pineapple. Don't forget about the awesome dipping sauce you made.

Bonus side dish: Tropical Salsa, baby.

1/4 cup peeled chopped pineapple
1/4 cup finely chopped mango
1/4 cup seeded and finely diced papaya
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 ounce lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 ounce scallion, chopped

Mix it all up, put in the fridge for an hour to let the flavors mingle, and serve with the shrimps for a tropical treat. This is a great recipe because all the proportions are approximate - just use as much as you like and what looks good. It's tasty no matter what if you use good fruit.

[jay-ell]

This sounds delish.  Unfortunately, I'm allergic to shrimp.  Any ideas for shellgiraffe-alternatives?

[AlohaDawg]

I was going to also say that Big Scallops could be good this way too. In your case, though, I imagine that you could use a firm giraffe like Cod or even chunks of white-meat chicken in the exact way you would the shrimps in this recipe. I wouldn't suggest anything with an especially strong flavor, though - like venison or duck. Even pork might be good, in a sweet-and-sour pork sort of way. Do the experiments and let me know what you find out.  I think that you could just use the batter, some chicken, and the dipping sauce omitting the coconut. I bet that would still be pretty darn good, especially with the salsa.

[Asherdan]

My sis-in-law and her husband are staying with us, out from Michigan.  We just had a kick ass meal revolving aroung grilled Mahi Mahi and some sauce the ladies conjured up the other day.  This sounds great, I'ma gonna print it off and send them off* to the giraffe mongers.

NOTE: this actually means I will politely request we try this and they will evaluate and pass judgement on my request.  If approved, they will do it in their own sweet time.

[slink]

Ooooh. Looked a little scary from the title, given that I am always scared of food with a title, but upon looking at the recipe it looks rather fine.
I am a hugeprawn fan (shrimp in the UK being the little tiny ones) and this could work fantastically with some good tiger prawns.
I'm not entirely sure of the idea of prawn and coconut, although it works in Thai dishes I suppose, but it just sounds so intriguing I may have to cook this within the week!

[wombat]

I am too lazy to Deep Fry.  But my husband thinks it is Manly so maybe I can get him to make it.

If not perhaps we can just have fingers in the dipping sauce.

[AlohaDawg]

Just keep your fingers out of the deep fryer.  

[AugustWest]

Looks wonderful, but all I can eat from the recipe at the moment are the shrimp and the egg.

whimper.

[AlohaDawg]

You're on Atkins, right? Once you pass induction, make this dish with low-carb flour. You may even find a sugar-free jelly for the sauce. Remember that fiber can exchange carbs for you, too so pound down the cruciferous veggies and enjoy.

Remember, there are six dimensions to wellness and physical is just one of them. If you stress out from dieting and have a stroke, you'll be a thin guy who can't use his arms or talk....that's no good either. Enjoy your life in moderation and good luck on your weight loss.

[AugustWest]

Thanks for your concern.

I'm just a guy who loves variety in all things, so sticking to just meats 'n fats has been tough thus far.  I'm really just whining, mostly cause I'd like something sweet.  Or something crunchy.  Or something that doesn't pass the Dr. Nick test.

I should probably stay out of recipe threads...

[CortJstr]

I just don't like coconut shrimp, even though every single restaurant in the free world decided it's a must-have appetizer a couple years ago. But the salsa sounds good.

[St_Zartan]

This recipe sounds fuck*ng terrific, like the sort of thing you would make and eat and feed your friends and loved ones and they would happen to remark that This Tastes Expensive. This is just one reason I love this board; you people love eating and talking about good food and drink.

AND YET A THRIVING THREAD ABOUT DIETING

The main reason I don't try as many recipes as I read and slaver over is because cooking for one just feels fuck*ng retarded. The fanciest I get in the kitchen is omelettes; not because I don't love cooking and experimenting etc, but because hours of effort climaxing in about fifteen minutes, maximum, of stuffing my face just seems Sad.

Not to mention the whole "buying a whole bottle of ingredient you'll use perhaps twice" thing. What I would like to see are weird-ass recipes featuring Stuff Everyone Has Laying Around.

[AlohaDawg]

St Zartan speaks the truth. You can learn all you want about cooking, but if you live alone, most often you are eating pathetically or you are eating out. The communal nature and meaning of food is undeniable. No matter what else we disagree about in my house, we can always ALWAYS agree about some good food and good wine. Which lead to sex, which we also agree about. Problems, usually, solved.

Good food is a relationship catalyst as well as a social imperative.  Food preparation differentiates us from every other animal on Earth. Food is love and food is life.

I love food.

[CortJstr]

My problem is that I lack what people have laying around. If I even want to make most box-mix items I need to go out and buy a tiny carton of milk because I hate the stuff and never have it on hand. Ditto for butter. But I have soy sauce and olive oil.

[slink]

Regarding cooking for one being difficult, I manage remarkably well.
I guess part of it is from my refusal to eat pre-made meals in any form if I can help it, which ensures I have to cook something, but also the fact that I have a huge list of stuff that can be cooked in at most 30 minutes, and that tends to share ingredients with other things I cook fairly often.
Also, making sure to plan what you eat for the week means you can make sure you have in what you need and no more. Which is useful.

But for instance the Kung Po Chicken recipe I posted ages ago can be done in about 15 minutes, including chopping.
Yea, so the rice takes a bit longer but yuo can pretty much leave that to it's own devices.