Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Panko Coconut Shrimp

So I wanted to let you all know how sushi went! First off, I changed the menu. I only did the crab maki and the panko shrimp - not the shrimp sushi. I didn't have any skewers and it was a lot of food already so I just left it. Secondly, the maki was awesome. Matt brought home an avocado, I had used my rice cooker to make the perfect sushi rice and everything else was ready to go so it was pretty quick to get done. One of the biggest keys to making good sushi is getting the rice right. First you need to buy the right rice. I buy rice that is specifically branded "Sushi Rice." Then you need to rinse the rice in cold water to get all the starch off. Keep rinsing until the water coming out the bottom is clear. Last time I made sushi I didn't rinse long enough and the sushi had a playdough taste to it. The last big thing about the rice is the rice vinegar mixture you add to it. There are a lot of variations of this part. The one I like to use is 4 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt per 2 cups of uncooked rice. You cook those three ingredients on the stove top until the sugar dissolves and then pour it over your already cooked rice and gently fold it in. It's a good idea to use a wooden spoon to stir the rice so that you don't break it up and to not put it in a metal bowl or it might react with the vinegar. Anyway, on to the shrimp! I decided to go halfway on my two ideas before. I did a Panko Coconut shrimp with the plum sauce. First I mixed about a cup of panko with about 1/4 c of unsweetened coconut, 2 tsp sugar and a bit of salt and pepper. I defrosted my shrimp and peeled them down to the tail while I had a frying pan on the stove heating up about a half inch of oil. When the oil was ready (throw a drop of water on it and it should sizzle) I coated the shrimp and threw them in. To coat them I first dipped them in flour, then egg and then in the panko mix, just to make sure they would really be coated well. I only cooked them in the oil long enough to get a little brown on each side and then I pulled them and put them back into the panko mix. Then I put them all on a pan and baked them in a 400 degree oven until they were golden and the shrimp was done. Man, they were yummy! That was my favorite part of the meal for sure. I don't like to deep fry because it's such a waste of oil but I definately am good to shallow fry and then bake. It's always a nice alternative. The biggest thing to remember is to keep your oil at the right temperature. If it's too hot then things burn before they cook through. If it's too cold, that's when you get greasy food. If you have hot oil the water in your food actually pushes the oil out so that your food doesn't absorb it and get all greasy. Anyway, I'd better go clean up so that I can convince Matt to take me for ice cream tonight!

Mrs. Vander Leek ;)

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