Coconut Shrimp with Orange Mustard Dipping Sauce recipe

For a start, let's get the shrimp/prawn thing out of the way. Americans call them Shrimps, English people call them Prawns. I'm calling this recipe Coconut Shrimp because it's my blog and I can use the American words if I want to, dawg.

Prawns, flour (top), egg, Panko and coconut (right)

This recipe is a piece of piss. Get some fat tiger prawns (or any large prawns) and shell them, but leave the tail on. Set up an assembly line of 3 bowls and a plate. First bowl has flour in it, the second has raw whisked egg, and the third has a mixture of 1 part panko* breadcrumbs and 2 parts dessicated coconut. Take a prawn, dip it and cover it in flour, then cover it in egg, and then cover it in the coconut and panko. Fry them for 2 or 3 minutes until they're a nice golden brown colour.

Ideally, you want to serve them with a dipping sauce. Soy sauce would do it, or sweet chilli sauce, but if you're really feeling smart you could try making your own like I did.

This is how BAD ASS is made

Get about 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons of honey, and 1.5 tablespoons of orange juice and mix it up well. You can even give it a little taste if you want and decide if you want it more mustardy, orangey or...Honey-ey. If you're feeling cheeky, you could add a few chilli flakes. This stuff was BAD ASS. Tangy and spicy, it was perfect with the coconut flavour of the prawns.

Coconut shrimp with orange mustard dipping sauce

I reckon these would be good to serve up as a snack when friends visit for an epic gaming session, or watching a movie. If you're going the whole hog and having people over for dinner, then it's a great starter. The nice thing about making anything that's fried in batter or breadcrumbs is that you can cover pretty much anything in the stuff and fry it. Replace the prawns in this recipe with bits of chicken, or if you're feeling really posh, how about scallops! 

*Panko breadcrumbs are a really crispy and crunchy japanese version of breadcrumbs. They're available from most Asian stores, or in the world food section of your supermarket.