Coconut Fried Shrimp with Sweet Coconut Cream Dipping Sauce

Here’s a recipe for coconut fried shrimp with a sweet, creamy dipping sauce made with rum and a twist of lime. The shrimp is fried in healthy coconut oil!

Let me never be far from shrimp.

I grew up in Savannah and tasted them every which way–grilled, fried, cocktailed, and on a stick.

I dipped them in lemon butter sauce at Dixie Crossroads in Florida.

I ate “prawns” in England–but knew what they *really* were.

And now I love keeping a bag in the freezer to pull out and prep when the cravings hit. The last time we had shrimp, I went for sweet and paired them with coconut.

Coconut shrimp is a great choice for warmer weather. It tastes tropical, and I’m all about tropical in the summertime. (It’s all the Florida and Savannah in my system.)

The recipe I’m sharing today is coconut times three. I breaded the shrimp in coconut flakes and used virgin coconut oil for frying. I also whipped up a sweet coconut cream dipping sauce. The sauce gets a hint of heat with red chili flakes and ginger to balance out the sweet, and a splash of rum to amp up the tropical factor even more.

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Coconut Fried Shrimp with Sweet Coconut Cream Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• 6 Tbsp coconut cream*
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbsp raw honey
• 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
• 2 Tbsp rum
• 1/4 red pepper flakes
• 1-2 Tbsp coconut milk or coconut water

For the shrimp

• 2 cups virgin coconut oil
• 24 large shrimp thawed
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 cups dried unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

For the sauce:

1. Mix all ingredients together except the coconut milk. Thin the sauce with coconut milk until it reaches the consistency you like.**

For the shrimp:

1. Heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a wok, deep frying pan, or pot.
2. Get out three small bowls or shallow baking dishes. In one, mix the flour, salt, and ginger. In another, beat the egg. In the third, pour the shredded coconut.
3. Test the oil by flicking cold water in the pot. If it's hot enough, the oil will pop.
4. Dredge the shrimp in first the flour mixture, then the egg, and then the coconut. Fry in hot oil until golden brown, turning once.

Recipe Notes

*You can scoop the cream off the top of an unshaken can of full-fat coconut milk if you don't want to buy this separately.
**Add more honey, ginger, or red pepper flakes to taste.