My daughter kept asking me for coconut shrimp like she had eaten somewhere with her dad. She had raved about the coconut shrimp following a father/daughter dance, so I assumed that was what she was referring to and that it was fried coconut shrimp. Well, I found out that I was wrong after she ordered fried coconut shrimp at a restuarant without reading its description and was shocked that it was fried. She had never really liked fried shrimp and coconut fried shrimp was no exception. It took almost a year after she started asking me to find where she had the coconut shrimp or cook some for her that we finally discovered her coconut shrimp at a local Chinese buffet.
I am not a fan of any Chinese buffet and we normally do not go to one. However, when I am out of town or at some event my husband and daughter often go to a Chinese buffet. The Chinese buffet offers creamy coconut shrimp.
As I have several pounds of shrimp in the freezer from a quick trip to the Georgia coast earlier this year, I decided that I should figure out how to make this creamy coconut shrimp….especially as I really like it too. I thought that I could come close to replicating the flavor by using coconut cream/milk and sweetened condensed milk. A Google search lead me to just two recipes…one of which also called for sweetened condensed milk. As usual, I read both recipes to get ideas and then created my own version.
The end product was given my daughter’s seal of approval…saying that it was very sweet, just like the restaurants’ coconut shrimp.
Creamy Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb. medium or large shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and tails removed
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 small sweet onion or 1 -2 shallots
- 1/2 c. canned coconut milk, Chaokoh is a good brand ( dairy case type coconut milk has too much water and canned coconut cream has too little water for the best and easiest results) DO NOT USE CREAM OF COCONUT that is meant for mixing cocktails, etc.
- 1/3 c. sweetened condensed milk
- 1 - 2 Tbsp. rum or amaretto
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter and olive oil in a skillet.
- Saute onion or shallots on medium heat until they are softened.
- Increase heat to medium-high and add prepared shrimp and cook until they are just totally opaque or nearly entirely opaque.
- Remove shrimp and set aside until later.
- Add coconut milk and condensed milk and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Cook milk mixture has thickened, then add rum or amaretto.
- Add add salt to taste, start with 1/4 tsp. and increase until desired level is achieved.
- Add cooked shrimp back and stir to coat shrimp with milk mixture.
- Cook until the shrimp is reheated and coating sauce is well adhered to the shrimp, stirring very frequently.
Notes
For less sweet shrimp, reduce the sweetened condensed milk.
For sweeter shrimp, increase the sweetened condensed milk.