BANG ON! Shrimp

BANG ON! Shrimp

For anyone who has ever gone to Bonefish Grill, you KNOW the best part of the experience is the Bang Bang shrimp – they are so wonderfully delicious and crispy, with a slight kick.

I’ve been playing with a few recipes to try to recreate the Bang Bang at home – what I’ve come up with is pretty darn close – it’s also a little “lighter” calorie-wise to what you get there, which is nice. When I make this, Rob and I don’t eat it as an appetizer, but as a meal. I’m calling my recipe Bang On! Shrimp. Start with making the sauce:

 

Bang On! Sauce:

• 5 tbsp light Mayonnaise (save yourself a calorie or two…)
• 4 tbsp Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1 tbsp Sriracha 

I found several recipes online while trying to perfect the recipe. I found that a lot of them called for (IMHO) way too much mayo and not enough Sriracha. I actually put 1.5 tablespoons of the hot stuff in my sauce, but you can heat it up or lower the heat depending on personal taste. Start low – you can always add more. Also, I had a HECK of a time trying to find the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce for some reason – and found what I really wanted at Whole Foods (believe it or not). Maybe everyone was practicing making Bang Bang shrimp like I was – who knows.

Anyhoo – mix all three ingredients together; set aside.

I served mine with Jasmine rice – Jasmine rice is a little more sticky – the Japanese style. You can use whatever you have, or leave out the rice all together. The rice will take the longest to cook, so follow the directions on the package and start with that first. 

Bang On! Shrimp:

• 1 lb (or so) large shrimp, shelled and deveined
• A little salt
• 1/8 cup cornstarch (give or take – made need to give a little here)
• Canola oil
• Some shredded purple cabbage
• 2 scallions, chopped

I was at the local grocery store on my way home – I was going to buy a pound of shrimp and shell/devein them myself. Then I noticed in the case for a mere $2 more per pound, there was the shrimp already done! I decided my time was worth $2 and got those instead. I also came home with 1.3 pounds of shrimp, and the sauce recipe above was plenty to coat all the shrimpies.

Once the shrimp are prepared (in my case, take them out of their container and place them on paper towels), sprinkle just a little salt on them. It will bring out the flavor of the shrimp more.

One of the lighter recipes I found called for two tablespoons of cornstarch to coat the shrimp. I tried that once, and it was a disaster – barely any shrimp were coated or crisp. An eighth of a cup was enough to coat the shrimp but not over do it. I just put the lightly salted shrimp in a mixing bowl and mixed in the cornstarch until they were lightly coated.

– so the oil. I’m a big fan of Olive Oil and rarely use anything else to cook with. BUT, Olive oil really doesn’t get hot enough (safely, anyway) to really crispy fry the shrimp. You can either put a little in the pan and quick fry them, or put maybe a half an inch in a bigger pot and quasi-deep fry them. I chose the latter last night. The trick to crispy shrimp is HIGH heat – so just pay attention a little more than normal when cooking. I also fried them in three batches as to not over crowd them. Drain the crispy shrimp on paper towels.

Once the shrimp are all cooked, place them in the bowl of the sauce and coat well.

To plate the meal, I placed a handful of purple cabbage on the plate (at Bonefish, the Bang Bang shrimp are served on top of purple cabbage and iceberg lettuce). The cabbage gives the dish a little crunch. Then I placed some of the jasmine rice on the plate, before layering the wonderful shrimp on top of the rice. I finished by sprinkling some chopped scallions on top (make the plate pretty, and gives just a little extra flavor/kick to the dish).

Enjoy!