71. Coconut Shrimp and Mango Salsa

I find it odd that as an adult, the memories I have of living in the Philippines as a child, are all centered around food.  I remember the pig roast, the mango's, coconuts, sugar cane and slugs (although not a fruit..I will never forget the slugs...LOL).

Up to this day, I can still taste the flavor of the mango's.  I find that the mango's in the states just don't have the same flavor.  I believe it's because they are not as fresh as what I was used to.  This has never deterred me from having a mango though.  I still love the juicy orange flesh.  

I bought a few mango's the other day and some shrimp.  I wanted to throw together a table that was bright and sunny.  That was a reflection of our summer here in Maryland.  I wanted the colors to be vibrant and fresh.  

A while back, my friend over at Cooking with Mel posted a recipe for Coconut Shrimp that looked so good.  I wanted to make this for my family.  You can find her recipe here for Fried Coconut Shrimp.  I should have read the recipe before I went to the store because I discovered that she used peanut oil.  I was bummed because I did not have any of this on hand and so I decided to bake mine.  I am not going to lie...I think the fried shrimp would have tasted so much better, although the baked were okay and quite tasty, frying in the peanut oil brings a different level of flavor to this dish.  You choose how you want your shrimp...baked or fried!  They are both yummy.

To round out our bright and sunny dinner, we had: Sweet Potato Fries, Grilled Pineapple, Homemade Chips and Mango Salsa and Coconut Shrimp.  Our table was very colorful and cheery.  This was perfect.  The next week our weather changed to Fall and so this was a celebration of summer, we just did not know it that night..LOL

Recipe:  Coconut Shrimp


1 pound of shrimp
unsweetened shredded coconut
3 egg whites, beaten

Preheat oven to 350.

Your shrimp should be washed, shell removed to the tail and de-vained.   This process took me 15 minutes.

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In a bowl add your egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl, add 1 cup of coconut at a time.  It's hard to say exactly how much you will use.  I bought 2 cups from Whole Foods and I had plenty.

Take a shrimp and coat it with the egg white then coat the egg white with the coconut.  I used my baking stone and lined the shrimp on this.

The shrimp needs to bake for 8 minutes on each side.  Turning the shrimp allows both sides to brown and cook.  The shrimp should be solid when touched to check for doneness.


 Recipe:  Mango Salsa

1 mango...very ripe, orange skinned, cubed
1 slice of pineapple or a small can of tidbits
1/4 cup of red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup of red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 T. cilantro, finely chopped

Take all of your ingredients and combine them in a bowl.  Mix well and serve with chips or over fish.

If you need help in cutting a mango, go here for two different techniques.

I also found this awesome recipe for another mango style dish at Natural Noshing for Mango Bean Salad.  YUM