Seafood with a Hawaiian twist. We just love these. These air-fried Parmesan-coconut shrimp are so good you need to try them. If you don’t have an Air Fryer, just bake them off on a sheet pan at 350º until they are browned on both sides. No strong with coconut flavor, but that suits us both fine.
I would have never bought myself an air fryer, but my husband went and did so for my Christmas present, so I’m trying to learn how to cook different things in it. I’ve since had to purchase a new wall oven and it has an air fryer feature built in. I use my Power XL basket fryer for small amounts of food; the Frigidaire oven ‘air fryer’ mode for larger amounts of food.
I’ve seen so many recipes for coconut shrimp on the internet, but the coatings can be pretty high carb. I have trimmed down the carbs and reached a total count of 1.8 net carbs per 6-shrimp serving! I did this by looking to my popular Oven-Fried Fish coating and then modified it even further. The end result is a dish we have had several times now. My husband really loves these shrimp and he’s not particularly fond of coconut! The Parmesan helps tone down the coconut taste a bit for us. This meal is suitable once you get to Phase 2 of Atkins ‘nuts and seeds’ level.
INGREDIENTS FOR SHRIMP:
26 medium-large raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 low-carb slice of bread or roll (I used a Smart Bun )
½ c. pork rind crumbs (about 1 c. whole pieces)
¼ c. grated dry Parmesan
1 oz. desicated unsweetened coconut
1/3 c. Carbquik or other low-carb bake mix
3 egg whites
¼ tsp. my homemade Seafood Spice Blend
¼ tsp. sea salt
INGREDIENTS FOR OPTIONAL BANG BANG DIPPING SAUCE:
½ c. homemade mayo (or from jar if you prefer)
1 T. Sambal Oelek Asian chili sauce
2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
Dash each salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS: Mix up the sauce ingredients well in a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve shrimp. Drain off any water in the bag of shrimp.
In a food processor, crumb the pork rinds until fine, removing any large, hard chunks. Add the low-carb bread/roll, Parmesan cheese, coconut, spice blend and salt. Pulse until smooth mixture. Pour into a medium bowl. Break the egg whites into another small bowl. Place the Carbquik in yet a third small bowl. Line the bowls up beside a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat: flour first, egg whites second and crumb mixture last. Dip the shrimp first into the flour with your left DRY HAND, then drop into the egg whites. With your right WET HAND, turn each shrimp in the egg white to coat both sides. With the wet hand, drop the shrimp lastly into the crumb mixture without touching the crumb mixture with your WET HAND. With your left DRY HAND, toss the crumbs up over the shrimp to also coat on the tops (will be coated on the bottom from having been dropped into the crumbs). With your left DRY HAND, pick up and place gently on the parchment lined pan. Repeat until all shrimp have been cooked. If your hands get gooey/messy, just wash and dry them off mid process.
Preheat you air fryer for 3 minutes. Also preheat your regular oven at the lowest setting or around 200º-250º. I can do 12-13 large shrimp in my 7-qt. Power XL fryer at a time, so that means 2 batches. Do not crowd the shrimp even if you have to cook three batches if using a smaller fryer than mine.
Fry first batch of shrimp at 370º for 4 minutes. Gently turn shrimp over and fry 4 more minutes. When I placed the remaining shrimp on the fryer tray and turned it on for 8 more minutes (turning at 4 minute mark), I then placed the pan with the first batch into my regular oven to keep it warm until the second batch was done. If needed, fry your third batch similarly. When all are done, plate and serve with the Bang Bang Sauce or other sauce of your choosing.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes four 6-shrimp servings, each contains (not including sauce): 176 cals, 10g fat, 11g carbs, 8g fiber, 3g NET CARBS, 19.37g protein, 509 mg sodium
1/4 batch sauce adds: 200 calories, 22g fat, 1.05g carbs, .02g fiber, 4.5g protein and 175 mg sodium