Coconut Shrimp - Paleo-Style

Coconut Shrimp paleo style by Ashley

It's business time when we're talking about shrimp.  I was recently reminiscing about spending my summers at the beach as a kid and one of my all time favorite restaurants, which is located between the mosquito lagoon and the atlantic ocean, has the best coconut shrimp I have ever had.  Every time I go back home to Florida I always try to make a trip back here as the coconut shrimp is as good as ever.  With that said, my brother and I decided to make these but make them paleo because really it's just switching a few ingredients and it's pretty easy and tastes amazing.  Hope you all give these a try soon while summer is still here.

24 10-15 u count shrimp, peeled, deveined and cleaned with the tails still on

1 cup of coconut flour or almond flour

1/2 cup of ground macadamia nuts

1 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut

4 egg whites beat

1 15 oz jar of virgin coconut oil

The messiest part of this is peeling and deveining the shrimp.  You can ask the fish monger to do this but honestly it could be up to $5 more a pound, so do it yourself.  The best way is to turn the sink on cold water and peel the shrimp underneath the water.  The take a small knife and cut it down, not all the way through the shrimp, the shrimps body to the tail to butterfly each shrimp, place to the side.  This could take up to 30 minutes to do, so just be prepared.

Place the coconut flour and macadamia nuts on a plate and season with salt, then place the shredded coconut on a separate plate.  Beat the egg whites with a fork until they start to get a little foamy and place the bowl in between the two plates with the flour and coconut.  Before you start breading the shrimp, place a cast iron skillet or pot on medium high heat and add in all of the coconut oil.  You want to heat the oil to 350 degrees prior to cooking the shrimp which will take 10-12 minutes to heat up.  As the oil is heating, start by drying off the shrimp with paper towel so the breading sticks easier.  Take the first shrimp and place it in the flour mixture and then dust off any remainder, and move to the egg mixture, then dip in the shredded coconut and place to the side.  I highly recommend breading all of the shrimp before you start frying to keep things organized and clean.  After all the shrimp are breaded, you will want to fry 5-6 at the most, don't over crowd the pan.  These will fry really fast, you are looking for the shrimp to curl up and the tail to become pink.  I fried each shrimp for one minute, then flipped them and fried them a second minute, so it's quick.  Once the shrimp are finished frying, place on a some paper towel so the excess oil can be absorbed and enjoy.

Comments

[heather]

Is there anything i could use in place of macadamia nuts? I have cashews, almonds, and pecans...?