Coconut Shrimp Tacos

Coconut Shrimp Tacos are on the menu tonight. We were in the mood to try our hand at Coconut Shrimp but didn’t know how we wanted to use them. Then, an old friend asked us when we were gonna make shrimp tacos because they were one of her favorites and Coconut Shrimp Tacos were born. Keeping with our Asian flavor profile from last week, we decided to dress the tacos with a Peanut Radicchio Slaw and a Sweet and Spicy Apricot Salsa. The result is a taco that hits all the right notes, it’s sweet, savory, and spicy. A delicious fusion of flavors.

Coconut Shrimp

16 large or jumbo shrimp

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 eggs

1 tsp Franks buffalo sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup panko

1/2 tsp salt

Coconut Oil (to cover 1/4 inch in bottom of pan)

8 flour taco tortillas

Sweet and Spicy Apricot Salsa

5 fresh or 5 canned apricots

1 kiwi, diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1 lime, zested

1/2 lime, juiced

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Peanut Radicchio Slaw

1/2 head radicchio, shredded

2 green onions

2 Tbls creamy peanut butter

3 Tbls rice vinegar

1/2 lime, juiced

1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp honey

1 tsp sriracha

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tsp sesame oil

Directions

  1. In a small food processor, grind the coconut until it’s about the same size as the panko.
  2. In one of three shallow dishes, combine flour, salt and pepper. In second dish, beat together two eggs and hot sauce, and in third dish, mix coconut that you processed along with the panko and salt.
  3. Coat shrimp with flour mixtures, dip into egg mixture, and coat in coconut panko mixture. Place on plate and repeat until all shrimp are coated. Place shrimp into refrigerator to chill until ready to fry.
  4. In a medium bowl, combine apricots, kiwi, red onion, the zest of the lime along with the juice of 1/2 of the lime, cilantro, salt, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
  5. In another medium bowl, combine the slaw ingredients, then shredded radicchio and green onions. Set aside.
  6. In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, rice vinegar, juice from the other half of lime, soy sauce, honey, sriracha, garlic, and sesame oil. Whisk together and drizzle over slaw and toss together.
  7. In a large sauté pan, pour in enough coconut oil to measure about 1/4 inch deep. Heat over medium high heat until hot. Gently add half of shrimp to pan and fry for about 1 or 2 minutes or until the coating turns a golden brown and the shrimp is turning pink. With tongs, turn shrimp over and brown on other side which should take about another minute or so. Drain on a plate covered with a paper towel so any excess fat can drip off. Fry other half of shrimp.
  8. Place tortilla on plate, put two shrimp per taco down middle of tortilla, spoon apricot salsa along side of shrimp and top with a little of the radicchio slaw. Enjoy!