Coconut-Macadamia Crusted Shrimp

You know how Sara went to Anguilla and St. Maarten a few weeks ago and lounged on the beach and ate delicious seafood? Yeah. I stayed in Louisiana, swollen and achy (although very grateful for the healthy little human I’m almost done incubating). So while she was splashing in tropical international waters, I was trying to figure out how one scratches their fire ant- and mosquito-bitten feet and ankles when one cannot reach them.

It’s okay. We’re cool. I knew it was coming for a long time, so I decided to make my own little tropical getaway with some of my favorite flavors. And since the pointiest, largest point of my belly hits the edge of my countertop, I also knew this recipe had to be super quick and easy. This is because I have short little arms and have to try and reach past the giant melon to cook, well, anything. And each cooking experience ends in backaches and made up swear words like “f-balls.” I don’t even know what that means, but I say it about 50 times a day.

DISCLAIMER: I’m truly not complaining. But I guarantee if someone were to record me trying to cook right now, I would be openly mocked on YouTube. DISCLAIMER OVER.

So anyway. Tropical shrimp. You’ll need a pound of peeled, deveined shrimp (tails on or off, totally depends on your preference), some all-purpose flour, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, cayenne pepper (just a little bit), lime zest, 2 eggs, salted macadamia nuts (trust me here), and sweetened coconut.

Yes, I do realize that, like, half the ingredients I just mentioned are not in this picture. That’s how things are going down.

I’m using frozen shrimp because I didn’t have it in me to head to a seafood market. One great thing about frozen shrimp is that unlike other frozen meats, they thaw super quickly. Don’t leave them in the refrigerator to thaw–they’ll get all fishy-tasting and gross if you do. Just pop them into a colander…

and then run them under cool water for about 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450 and lightly crumple some aluminum foil and use it to line a large baking sheet. Set it aside.

Chop enough macadamia nuts to get 3/4 cup.

Mix them with 3/4 cup sweetened coconut in a shallow bowl or on a plate.

In another shallow bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and set aside.

In a large Ziploc bag, combine the flour, garlic, onion, salt, cayenne, and lime zest. Pat the shrimp dry and then place them in the Ziploc bag and shake to coat the shrimp.

Working with a few smaller shrimp at a time (or 1 large shrimp at a time), shake off the excess flour and then dip it in the whisked eggs. Shake off the excess egg and then roll in the macadamia/coconut mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining shrimp.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes (a few minutes longer for very large shrimp).

While the shrimp are cooking, make the sauce; you’ll need 1 medium very ripe mango, 1 cup pineapple chunks (I used fresh pineapple, but you could also use canned pineapple; it just might not be as sweet), the juice of 1 lime, a pinch of kosher salt and a pinch of cayenne (if you want a little kick).

Combine the ingredients in a blender

and blend until smooth.

When the shrimp are done, serve immediately with the dipping sauce. This makes 4 dinner-sized servings or 6-8 appetizer servings.