Fried Shrimp with Old Bay Aioli!

On the Menu this Valentines Evening ~ Fried Shrimp with Old Bay Aioli!

I was home with my oldest son, Grey, for Valentine's Day and hadn't planned on anything special for supper. I gave him a few choices, pasta carbonnara, left over beef stew, or fried shrimp.  He jumped on the fried shrimp. Instead of preparing a main dish with the shrimp I suggested the shrimp as an appetizer and having the main meal be the stew, really wanted to use that up my freezer is bursting.  Grey happily agreed, he is so good, but he said how about fried shrimp.  You got it...so here is what we came up with.



I always have a bag of jumbo raw shrimp in my freezer. We are huge seafood people. I removed the bag from the freezer and submerged the shrimp in lukewarm water to speed up the defrosting process.

 In the mean time I got my breading station ready. I poured about a cup of flour on a paper plate for easy clean up. This entire process tends to be messy to save some time and clean up by using paper.  To the flour I added old bay seasoning, salt, and pepper.  In a bowl I added two eggs beaten and in a plastic bag I added panko bread crumbs and seasoned Italian bread crumbs, to the bread crumbs I also added old bay and some Cajun seasoning for a little kick.

Dredge (lightly coat) the shrimp in the flour, then place in the egg and add them to the bag of bread crumbs. Shake until they shrimp are completely coated and then you are gonna add them to the hot oil. I like to deep fry in canola oil. Heat the oil to 350. Be very careful not to fill your pan up because it will over flow when you add the shrimp or whatever you are frying.  I fry in small batches to keep the shrimp from sticking together. Keep your eye on them because they cook very quickly.

Remove the shrimp from the oil and place it on a wire rack with paper towel underneath to catch the excess oil. This helps keep the crust crispy on both sides. Nothing worse than making a really tasty crust to have it be mushy and oil soaked.

I came up with a really simple dipping sauce for crab cakes and I made it to accompany the shrimp.  It is mayo, lemon juice, sriracha (or any hot sauce you like) , old bay seasoning, salt, and Dijon mustard and some fresh chopped parsley. So easy and a great accompaniment to seafood instead of cocktail sauce or tarter sauce. Mix all together and and taste. If you like it spicier add more hot sauce...the boys tend to like things mellow.

As I remove the shrimp from the hot oil I add salt and squeeze a little lemon juice over them.

Let me just say these were a big hit!