Coconut Shrimp

By AzWench

We think coconut shrimp is one of the greatest foods ever, but always feel guilty about eating it because it's fried. This baked version uses come of our coconut milk powder in the breading, as well as some unsweetened coconut for a more savory flavor. This is a great summer supper to have while your Jimmy Buffett is playing in the background.

Ingredients

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined; leave the last section of shell and tail intact.
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3 large egg whites, beaten until foamy

Preparation

Step 1

1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. If you have a convection oven, this is a good place to use it; use 375°F on convection setting. Grease a baking sheet, or line with parchment and spray the paper generously.

2) Rinse and drain the shrimp; keep cool in a bowl over ice.

3) In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, coconut milk powder, salt, and cayenne.

4) Pulse the sweetened coconut and coconut flakes in a food processor to chop them a little finer, and whisk into the cornstarch mixture.

5) In another bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy.

6) Holding onto the tail, fully coat each shrimp in the whipped egg whites.

7) Dredge the shrimp in the coconut/cornstarch mixture.

8) Place the shrimp on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all the shrimp are breaded.

9) Lightly spray the tops of the shrimp with vegetable oil if desired (this will help them brown more evenly).

10) Bake the shrimp for 15 minutes (check at 12 minutes, just to be safe) in a convection oven; and 15 to 20 minutes in a regular oven, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm.