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.
Coconut-Macadamia Crusted Shrimp
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 1 pound peeled deveined shrimp
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper optional
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 large eggs whisked
- ¾ cup chopped salted macadamia nuts
- ¾ cup sweetened coconut
Dipping Sauce
- 1 very ripe medium mango
- 1 cup chopped pineapple chunks I used fresh, but you could substitute drained pineapple chunks
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1-2 pinches kosher salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450℉. Lightly crumple some aluminum foil and place it on a large baking sheet. Set aside.
- In a shallow bowl or on a plate, combine the chopped macadamia nuts and the coconut. Set aside.
- Rinse the shrimp. In a large Ziploc bag, combine the flour, lime zest, kosher salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add the shrimp and toss to coat.
- Shake the excess flour from the shrimp. If your shrimp are smaller, dip a few shrimp at a time in the egg mixture, shake off the excess, and then roll them in the coconut/macadamia mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheet. If your shrimp are large, work with one at a time. Repeat with remaining shrimp.
- Place the baking sheet in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 10 minutes (slightly longer if your shrimp are very large).
- While the shrimp are cooking, combine the mango, pineapple, salt, and cayenne in a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve the hot shrimp immediately with the dipping sauce. Makes 4 servings.
Questions & Reviews
I came back to make this recipe today for probably the fifth or sixth time and saw that I hadn’t commented. My family LOVES this recipe. It’s just labor intensive/expensive enough that I don’t make it all the time, but still simple enough that I make it for company often. The sauce was yummy, but I usually skip it for ease, because the shrimp is just. that. good. Also, I found unsalted macadamia nut bits in the baking aisle that were much cheaper that the salted whole kind, and most of the chopping is done for me. I just add a little bit of salt to them. Delicious! And then I have the rest of the bag available for cookies or trail mix 🙂