Crunchy and delicious coconut lime shrimps recipe | Simone's Kitchen (2024)

posted by Simone van den Berg on Aug 9, 2013 (last updated Mar 6, 2024) 0 comments »

Whenever I make a recipe containing shrimps I love giving them a crunchy coating. So this coconut lime shrimp recipe is doing just that. It’s super easy to make and the perfect way to prepare delicious prawns!

Coconut lime shrimps

Growing up I never really liked shrimps. I was used to getting rubbery shrimp in dodgy restaurants and making them myself included cleaning them and I just hated that. Removing a poop shoot… and legs?? Yuck.

But ok, I wasn’t exactly a seafood fan in those days, so maybe it is not exactly representative of my current taste. In the meantime I got to really love good shrimps! That said I do like my shrimps to be on the crunchy side. I love tempura shrimps but these coconut lime shrimps are simply the best. With the taste of sweet coconut and delicious lime zest. You’re gonna love them too!

Making the coconut lime shrimps

For this coconut shrimp dish you do have to clean the shrimps first. Or – better option – buy raw shrimps that are already cleaned. Do make sure to double check if they are really clean as I have had my share of not so clean ones too. For this recipe you need large shrimps or prawns as that will make the process easier. Apart from that you don’t need that much else.

I do like to use the frozen cleaned shrimps for this. You can choose to either leave the shrimp tail on or off. It looks prettier with the tails on but it eats easier without. So your choice.

The original recipe for the coconut lime shrimps comes from the book Under the walnut tree which I totally loved. I’ve cooked from the book a number of times already and a favorite of mine

You start the process by mixing the panko and the grated coconut together with about half of the lime zest. In a second bowl you mix the egg with a little bit of water and salt. And a third small bowl with the flour.

The dipping order is flour first, egg and last the coconut panko mixture.

Once all prawns are dipped you place a large skillet on medium heat with coconut oil. Make sure the oil is hot enough. Instead of a large skillet you can also use a small saucepan if you don’t have a large batch.

Fry the coconut lime shrimps in hot oil golden brown in just a 1-2 minutescook time. Don’t overcook them! Let them drain on paper towels before eating.

Serve with

Serving the coconut lime shrimps I like to use a mayonnaise based spicy dip. But you can use any kind of dip you like. Drizzle a little bit of lime juice over the shrimps too for some extra freshness.

Additions and variations

The basic recipe is pretty simple but you can always make easy variations. Adding some garlic or fresh ginger to the panko dip is delicious and will enhance the savory flavors of the crunchy shrimps. You can also vary with the dip. I sometimes like to make a dip with coconut aminos, sesame oil and lime juice. Adding some red pepper flakes to the panko before frying will also make it a bit spicier. The fun part is that you can make this shrimp recipe into a coconut lime chicken recipe as well. The recipe will work equally well with chicken!

Are you a coconut lover?

Check out these delicious coconut recipes too

• Coconut pancakes
• Coconut rice pudding from the slow cooker
• Coconut banana cake