Baked Coconut Shrimp
Ooops, we skipped a week! With all the fuss of Gabi’s graduation party (which was last Thursday, but we also celebrated on Friday and Saturday!), there really was no time to post! To make it up to you guys, today we continue the Sea Tertulias with a very easy and different recipe, great for having friends over!
The first time I ate coconut shrimp was at the only Chinese buffet that we know in Uruguay – and to think that there’s one on every corner in Brazil! The most traditional version of this recipe is deep-fried, but I decided to make something a little healthier, and I thought it was better than the original!
You’ll need:
400 g deveined shrimp
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper – you can use paprika instead, if you prefer it less spicy
2 cups shredded coconut – I used regular shredded coconut, because that’s what I can find here. If you can find unsweetened flaked coconut, it’ll look a lot prettier! 🙂
3 egg whites
For the sauce:
Unsweetened orange marmalade
Did I mention how easy this recipe is?
Start by preparing your baking sheet: take a baking sheet and grease it with olive oil. End of the preparation! 😀
Spice the cornstarch with salt and cayenne pepper. Place the mixture on a plate and set aside. Quickly beat the egg whites with a fork and place on a separate plate. Set that aside as well. Place the coconut on a third plate and guess what? Set that aside too!
Now to the assembly: take one shrimp, dredge it on the cornstarch, then dip in the egg whites, then in the coconut. Place it on the baking sheet and repeat the process until you finish! As 400 g is quite a bit of shrimp, I recommend you do this process while watching a show or something! 😀
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 7 minutes. Then, flip the shrimp so they brown on the other side and bake for another 7 minutes.
While the shrimp are baking, make the sauce. In a small pan, place the marmalade and a couple Tbsp water, mixing on low heat until the marmalade is thinner. When it comes to a boil, turn off the stove, place the sauce in a nice little bowl, and serve!
Shrimp and Spinach Spaghetti
Better late than never! I didn’t publish this recipe on Friday, as usual, but I had my reasons: I was travelling to my sister’s graduation party!
To start the Sea Tertulias, I decided to finally test one of the countless video recipes I had saved on Facebook – do you guys also save thousands of links there and never remember to check it? Is there a support group, “Facebook link-savers anonymous”? I need it! 😀
In any case, I’m glad I finally decided to check my saved links. This is one of those super-easy, one-pot, no-fuss recipes, but it’s sure to make an impression!
For two people, you’ll need:
½ package of pasta – I used spaghetti, but I think a thicker-cut, such as linguine, would have been nicer. Or if you really want to impress, use fresh pasta!
8 generous Tbsp butter
250 g fresh shrimp, deveined
200 g baby spinach – I didn’t have it, so I used normal spinach
2 garlic cloves – as always, I used more
¼ cup grated parmesan
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp oregano
Olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika
Start by cooking the pasta, following the cooking time in the package. While it cooks, sort the other ingredients, because the process is QUICK. When the pasta is al dente, drain the water. In the same pan that you cooked the pasta, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and about 2 Tbsp butter. When the butter has melted, add the shrimp. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Fry the shrimp for about five minutes, stirring to ensure that they cook evenly. Add the garlic and fry for about a minute.
Now it’s time to put in the spinach, stirring well until it wilts. Add the pasta, the remaining butter, oregano, parsley, and parmesan, stirring well until all the butter has melted.
Serve right away!
Culinary Tertulias 