Thursday, February 18, 2010

Coconut Chicken Nuggets

Technically, this recipe was for coconut shrimp. But the shrimp I had were too tiny to handle the coconut, so I chopped up some chicken breasts and made coconut chicken nuggets instead. 'Twas a delightful escape to the tropics...for my mouth.


Ingredients
  • 28 Jumbo shrimp (about 1.5 pounds), or 4 chicken breasts cut into 1 inch or 2 inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
  • 1/2 cup panko
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 teaspoons canola oil, divided
  • Cooking Spray
Recipe
1. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. Discard shells.
2. Place coconut in a food processor, pulse 6 times or until finely chopped. Add panko, pulse to combine. Place coconut mixture in a shallow dish. Place cornstarch in a shallow dish. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Sprinkle shrimp evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Working with 1 shrimp at a time, dredge shrimp in cornstarch, shaking off excess. Dip in egg whites, dredge in coconut mixture.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons canola oil to pan, swirl to coat. Add 7 shrimp (about 5 nuggets) to pan, coat tops with cooking spray. Cook 2.5 minutes on each side or until done. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and shrimp.

Personally, when I make this again, I will change the coconut/panko ratio to 1/3 cup panko and 2/3 cup coconut. Just because I'm a coconut-nut. I love the stuff! I'm never a big fan of "dredging" things because it makes my fingers dirty...and I don't like that. It was kind of tedious, but since I enjoy the process of cooking it didn't bother me much. I ate the nuggets with rice, and the leftovers proved to be quite versatile. I chopped them up for a salad, stuck them in a sandwich for lunch at school, and even made a panini out of them this evening. It's not quite a gold-star recipe (not something I would fix for company), but it's not destined for the trash can either. I'll keep it around for whenever I need my coconut fix. Cowabunga!

Ha ha, cowabunga.

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