Crunchy “Fried” Island Coconut Shrimp
Recipe Redux – August, 2012: Most Memorable Vacation Meal

One of my favorite vacation locations is the Caribbean. Who doesn’t love beautiful sands, warm sun and blue seas bustling with life? But what keeps me a regular visitor is the cuisine. From the abundance of fish (whole grilled is my favorite), to the exotic variety of produce and the regular use of reduction sauces and salsas over heavy creams and roux, it is a healthy eater’s paradise.

So this month’s Recipe Redux theme challenge of taking a most memorable meal from a vacation and making it healthier seemed extra tough for me at first, as my meal choices while on holiday are already rather healthy as is.

Eventually it came to me- Fried Coconut Shrimp.  I used to order this crunchy dish at least once during each Caribbean visit, but now that I am gluten-free, it’s no longer a diet option. I guess one could say this dish is most memorable for getting “revoked” from my island vacations!

For my healthy remake, here the shrimp are baked instead of fried. Because there’s good crunch in every bite, you won’t mind all the missing fryer grease. Pure rice bran replaces regular flour on the first breading, giving the shrimp a nice boost of fiber.

For the final breading, in place of Panko I made breadcrumbs out of crispy brown rice cereal. What is really great about this substitution: unlike Panko, the brown rice cereal crumbs do not get soggy from the moisture of the shrimp, so you get a beautifully crunchy outer coating, even if the shrimp cool off a bit and are not eaten right away. Whether or not you follow a gluten-free diet, I definitely recommend using chopped crispy brown rice cereal over Panko for the best crunchy breading that’s tasty too.

These shrimp are a great appetizer, or used as the protein part of your next salad. Serve along with your favorite sauce or with some fresh squeezed citrus.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 Cup crispy brown rice cereal, gluten-free
1/4 cup Shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper, fresh ground
1/8 teaspoon Smoked paprika
2 large Eggs
1/3 cup Rice bran
12 large Shrimp (16-20 lb count), raw, rinsed, peeled and deveined

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a food processor, add the rice cereal, and pulse chop until about the size of Panko breadcrumbs. Add chopped cereal to a small bowl (#3) along with the coconut, Old Bay seasoning, black pepper and smoked paprika and toss to combine.

Crack the eggs into a second small bowl (#2) and whisk to combine. In a third small bowl (#1) add the rice bran.

Place a sheet of parchment paper over a 1/2 sheet pan.

Line your three bowls in order (#1,#2,#3). Take each shrimp, one by one, and roll in the rice bran in bowl 1, then dip in the egg mixture in bowl 2, then roll again in the coconut cereal mixture in bowl 3, making sure to fully coat during each of the three breading steps.* Place each fully breaded shrimp onto the lined sheet pan.

Bake for 10 minutes. Carefully flip each shrimp and bake another 4 minutes, or until shrimp are fully cooked.

(*Note: After breading every shrimp, you will have leftover breading and egg in your 3 bowls. Discard what is not used- do not save.)

Serves 4.