Wild American shrimp, dredged in a blend of flour and cornstarch, then deep fried and finished in an enhanced spicy sweet chili sauce, makes for a great snack, appetizer or main dish meal with a nice kick.
Firecracker Shrimp Appetizer
Because I'm constantly writing new recipes for this website and I cook so often, my husband aka to y'all as "The Cajun" and I don't really eat out much. On those occasions where we do, I'm often inspired to try to recreate something on the menu that we tried.
That is the case here.
Almost every local restaurant here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast has some kind of shrimp appetizer that consists of crunchy fried shrimp tossed in a slightly spicy and sweet sauce. They are known by a variety of names - like Firecracker Shrimp, Voodoo Shrimp, Bang Bang Shrimp and Boom Boom Shrimp, to name a few.
If there is one on the appetizer menu when we go out, The Cajun is going to order it!
Firecracker Shrimp, pictured alongside Crab Croquettes from Bacchus on the Bayou, Ocean Springs MS.
Boom Boom Shrimp from Walk-on's Sports Bistreaux, co-owned by Drew Brees, D'Iberville (North Biloxi) MS.
Just a quick reminder here.... if you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips and such on a blog, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!Here's how to make my version of Firecracker Shrimp.
Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl; set aside. For my sauce I settled on using Thai-style sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, hot sauce (I'm using sriracha), lime juice, soy sauce and garlic powder. I'll finish the dish with sesame seeds.
Add everything except for the sesame seeds to a bowl and whisk it all together. Set aside.
Whisk together 3/4 cup self-rising flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch.
To season the shrimp, I'm using salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning and Old Bay.
Add the seasonings to the shrimp.
Toss until thoroughly coated.
Toss the shrimp in flour mixture.
Place a rack over paper towels on a rimmed baking sheet and place the dredged shrimp on the rack to let the excess flour fall away. You'll also be wiping the rack and transferring the fried shrimp to this same rack.
Heat oil in a deep fryer or saucepan over medium high heat. Fry shrimp in batches until golden brown, remove and drain shrimp on the rack.
Spoon some of the sauce into a bowl.
Add the shrimp.
And give it a quick toss, reserving the remaining sauce for dipping (sorry for the blur - older eyes thought it looked fine in the camera!).
Transfer to serving platter or dish and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. At Bacchus the shrimp was spooned over baby spring lettuce, which made a nice presentation if you happen to have some handy. Add a little green onion for color if you like.
Makes a wonderful snack for game time y'all!
For more of my favorite appetizers, check out this collection on my Pinterest page!
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