I don’t know about you, but when the temperatures are going up, the food I crave most is light seafood, pasta and everything that bursts with tropical flavours.
This year, with international travel still a challenge and beautiful tropical beaches only a faraway dream, it’s the flavours of the destinations I can’t travel to right now that are pulling me through the days spend at home.
When you travel to a tropical island, shrimps (or prawns) are typically plentiful on the menu.
Then there is coconut, which is a frequent ingredient in the kitchens of many tropical and exotic locations.
Combine the two, add a bit of lime and possibly something sweet and juicy like mango, and your perfect tropical dinner is almost complete.
Whether you make these crunchy, crisp, and golden fried coconut shrimp as a starter, main course, or serve it as finger food at your next party (once it’s safe to have them again), those little nuggets will be gone sooner than you can blink an eye.
To make the experience complete, of course the right drink is needed.
Pairing shrimp with wine
So what do you best pair with shrimp?
Shrimp as well as prawns (which are not the same but often used as substitutes for each other) can be found around the world, from the Mediterranean to Asia and the US east coast among other places. Which means, the flavour profile will change depending on the origin.
In addition, how you prepare your shrimp will play an important role as well. Variations are almost endless, from deep-fried to sauteed in rich buttery sauces, spicy curries, and a lot more.
However, not to overcomplicated things, as a rule of thumb, the best wines to pair with shrimp are dry Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, rosé wines, and of course champagne / sparkling wine.
If you chose a heartier preparation such as for example shrimp gumbo a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir could be a good fit as well.
For the fried coconut shrimp, I picked a Blanc de Blancs. In the first place because I felt they deserved something stylish. Plus, sparkling wines are in general an ideal match to fried seafood and the dry finish is the perfect balance for the slightly sweet shrimp and mango dip.
Read more about the von Buhl Blanc de Blancs Prestige Sekt.
Recipe: Fried Coconut Shrimp with Mango Dip
Serves 4
1000 g large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails attached
350 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
300g sweetened shredded coconut
200 g panko breadcrumbs
1 lime (optional)
oil for frying (vegetable, canola, or coconut oil)
Wash shrimp under cold water, then dry.
Mix together 250 g flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the lightly beaten eggs, 200 ml wate, baking powder and 100 g flour. In a third bowl, mix the panko and shredded coconut.
Coat the shrimp by first dunking them into the flour mixture. Shake of the excess, then dunk them into the egg mixture. Let the excess drip off. Finally, dunk the shrimp into the coconut-panko mixture.
In a large skillet or saucepan, add enough oil the shrimps will be covered (about 7-8 cm). Heat the oil until it starts to sizzle.
Add the shrimp in batches and fry for about 4-5 minutes (or a little longer if you like the crust to be really crunchy).
Transfer the shrimp onto a plate lines with kitchen paper to drain of the excess oil.
Drizzle with some lime juice (optional) and serve with the Mango dip.
For the Mango dip:
1 ripe mango
150 g Créme fraiche
2 tablespoons sour cream
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon mustard
Peel the mango, eliminate the core, and cut into pieces.
In a bowl, mix mango with all other ingredients. Puree until smooth.
Refrigerate until needed.
Carrots and Tigers 