Coconut Battered Shrimp with Homemade Sweet Chilli and Marmalade Dip

Last weekend I took my first trip to long beach since moving to New York! Apart from laying on the beach all day (and getting spectacularly sun burnt!) we walked down the board walk, watching the sunset and stopped at The Beach House, for a bite to eat. Recommended by a friend it was easy to see why he spoke to highly of the restaurant/bar! There was a huge variety of fresh and tasty seafood and of course frozen cocktails which was right up my street!

One of my friends around the table ordered coconut calamari with sweet chilli sauce and after trying a piece I was insanely jealous. The crunchy sweet coconut battered shrimp was perfectly complimented by the spicy-sweet sauce and it was this match made in heaven that has inspired this recipe!


Creating golden, sweet, crispy, coconut encrusted shrimp is a quick 3 step process: the shrimp take a dunk into flour, then a dunk in beaten egg, and a heavy heavy heavy dunk into coconut/Panko – the more sweet coconut crust, the better! Obviously you can use shop bought sweet chilli sauce and mix it equal parts with marmalade for the dipping sauce, but my sugar free version is so tasty and simple why not give it a try!? 

Ingredients 
(Serves 4-6)
(For the Shrimp)

- 500grams of Peeled Raw Shrimp (tails on if you can get them!)
- 1 1/2 cups of Panko Breadcrumbs
- 3/4 cup of Coconut Flakes
- 2teaspoons of Cumin
- 2x Eggs (beaten)

(For the Sauce)

- 1teaspoon of Coconut Oil
- 6x Green/Red Chilli's (1/2  finely chopped and deseeded, 1/2 finely chopped with seeds)

Top Tip: for a spicier sauce, keep the seeds from more chillies, for a milder sauce remove the seeds completely!

- 1/2 a Red Bell Pepper (diced)
- 1x Garlic Clove (crushed)
- 1/4 cup of Agave Nectar (or honey)
- 1/4 cup of Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1/2 cup of Water
- Zest and Juice of 1x Orange
- Zest and Juice of 1/2 a Lime

Method

1) Firstly you need to make your dipping sauce. Grab yourself a large heavy based sauce pan and put it on a medium heat. Add your chopped chilli and garlic and cook for around 3-5 minuted until they have begun to soften.

2) Add the rest of your ingredients to the pan with a good seasoning of salt and pepper,  bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for around 30minutes until the mixture has reduced and become thick (remember the sauce thickens up even more when cooled!)

3) While your sauce is cooking, you can make your shrimp! Set up your stations, the first with the beaten eggs in a bowl and in a second bowl combine the panko breadcrumbs, coconut flakes and cumin and preheat the oven to 200C. Put your shrimp into a large container or ziplock bag and shake with a little flour (I used around 1/4 of a cup) so that there is no excess moisture on the shrimp and the coating will stick. Dunk each shrimp in the egg, then into the breadcrumb coconut mixture and then place on a greased baking tray. Repeat with all of your shrimp!

4) Finally place in the preheated oven for around 6 minutes until the tops have browned a little, then flip them all over and do the same on the other side! 

And thats it! Serve piled high as an appetiser or on a fresh green salad for a tasty lunch with your sweet chilli marmalade and enjoy!

Charlotte x