Cooking On Sale

OMG OMG OMG! I actually deep fried something well! Woah! This is huge!! Remember when I was an absolute failure at making everything deep fried? Well I can do it now!!

Now that I’ve gotten the excitement out of my system, lets move on to the actual way this worked. I used a candy thermometer and heated the oil to 350°F. I’ve discovered that the secret to making it happen well is to make sure that the oil is at a constant temperature and that you use a whole pot of oil and not just a pan with a small layer.

I used precooked frozen de-veined shrimp and defrosted them. When you deep-fry the shrimp, the crust will fry and the shrimp won’t get too overcooked because they’ll be cold to begin with. They’ll just heat through. Frozen shrimp go on sale often so you can just buy a bag and keep them until you’re ready for this recipe.

There is a 3-step process to creating the coconut crust. First dredge the shrimp in flour so it has a thin coat on it. Then dip them in egg with salt and pepper. You can just whisk the egg with a fork quickly. Finally dredge the shrimp in an equal parts mixture of shredded coconut and Panko bread crumbs. Panko bread crumbs are Japanese bread crumbs that are lighter than most other bread crumbs. They’re becoming popular in American cooking, so you should be able to find them in your local supermarket. The coconut was on sale this week, which is what inspired this dish.

Then put a few coated shrimp in the hot oil. You can do about 6 at a time. If you add too many to the oil the temperature will drop too much. After the crust has browned use a metal strainer to pull the shrimp out of the hot oil and put them on a paper towel to drain. Continue in batches until all the shrimp are done.

For the sauce, mix together vinegar, orange marmalade and hot sauce. Start with a little bit of hot sauce and add more until it is as spicy as you want.

Currently Cooking To:

Wale – Chillin (ft. Lady Gaga)
Wale – Nike Boots

I remember when I discovered Nike Boots a few years ago and I’m so glad that Wale has finally broken onto the mainstream music scene because he’s wonderful. Also, just the combination of Wale and Lady Gaga is bound to be a great song. And P.S. It’s pronounced like Wall-A and not like Whale.