Name: Coconut Shrimp With Apricot & Horseradish Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 32 min
Ingredients: 1 Lb. Large Shrimp, peeled & deveined (tail left on); ¼ Cup Wondra flour; 2 Large Eggs; ½ Cup Finely shredded Coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, your preference); 1 Cup Panko breadcrumbs; Salt & Pepper to taste; 3-4 Tbsp. Olive Oil (depending on how many batches of shrimp you have); Lemon Zest and a Cup of the shredded coconut for plating (optional); ½ Cup of my Apricot Sauce/Jam (or store bought apricot preserves); 2 Tbsp. Prepared horseradish sauce

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Coconut Shrimp with Apricot and Horseradish sauce is one of my favorite summer dishes. They are light and crunchy and are great finger food…just pick up by the tail and dip into the sauce! Yummy. I used to get a similar dish out in Montauk, NY at a side-of-the-road seafood shack. This brings me right back to great summers at the beach.

Let’s start the dish by making the dipping sauce. Now I use my own Apricot Jam and Sauce recipe. It is so easy to make with a handful of ingredients and I use a monk fruit sugar substitute to get rid of extra sugar. It is so good. When apricots are in season, I’ll make small batches of this and use it for all kinds of things like a glaze on salmon, a spread on breakfast toast and mixed here with horseradish for this great dipping sauce.

If you don’t have time to make the jam or prefer not to, use a good store bought apricot jam or preserves would work too.

In a small dish, mix the apricot jam and the horseradish sauce and put it to the side until the shrimp are cooked and the dish is ready to serve.

Next, I prep my shrimp. You can buy shrimp already peeled and deveined. It is a big time saver, so if you can find them already prepped, go ahead and purchase those. When deciding on which shrimp to buy, here is a tip.

You are going to see shrimp at the store identified as 16-20, or 22-30 etc. This just means the number of shrimp per pound. When I use the term large, you are usually going to be somewhere between 16 and 22 per pound. This is the perfect serving for four dinners or six appetizers in this recipe.

I rinse my shrimp and pat them dry. Put them to the side and move on to setting up your breading station.

You are going to need three shallow bowls. In the first bowl, add the Wondra flour and season with salt and pepper. I use Wondra flour for this because it is much finer than regular flour and won’t clump up. I like a very thin layer of the flour so the egg sticks but I want the coconut & panko mixture to be the star in my breading. If you don’t have Wondra, regular all purpose flour works just fine. It is just my preference.

In a second bowl, mix the eggs with a tablespoon of water and salt and pepper.

In the third bowl, mix the panko breadcrumbs (these are Japanese breadcrumbs that so really crispy), the coconut and salt and pepper.

You are now ready to bread your shrimp. First, cover a baking sheet with tin foil (for easy cleanup) and put to the side. Next, drag the shrimp through the Wondra flour and shake off any excess. Next, dip the shrimp in the egg mixture allowing the excess to drip off. Finally, put the shrimp into the panko/coconut mixture and gently press so that it adheres to the shrimp on all sides. Place the shrimp on the prepared baking sheet.

Continue with all the shrimp. When they are all on the baking sheet, but the pan in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to set up.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Let it get real hot. Add shrimp (they shouldn’t be touching) and cook on one side until golden brown. About two minutes. Gently flip the shrimp and cook on the other side for another minute and a half. Place on a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil. You can then put them on another baking sheet that you can keep in a warm 200 degree F oven while you cook the remaining shrimp.

You can cook the shrimp in batches and keep them warm in the oven. This is particularly great if you are making a large batch or have guests coming. These will hold up to 30 minutes in that warm oven. You don’t want them to go much longer and over cook and dry out.

You can serve these on a large platter with the dipping sauce on the side. For a great presentation, plate them on top of a bed of shredded coconut. Zest a little lemon on top for the final touch.

One more tip: you may not think of serving these at a BBQ right off the grill but it is perfect for that. You do all the prep work in advance and then just hit up a pan on the grill, add oil and cook for a couple of minutes. It is a great grab and go outdoor party food so think of adding it to your next BBQ menu.