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Coconut Shrimp

A beer batter keeps the coconut on these crispy shrimp during cooking.

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Beer and coconut share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and 13 recipes mention both. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

6 servings
Prep10 min
Cook20 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pan to 350°F (175°C), using a thermometer to check.

  2. Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving tails on if you like, then pat them completely dry with paper towels.

  3. Toss the shrimp in the 1/4 cup of flour until lightly dusted, then shake off any excess.

  4. Whisk the egg, 1/2 cup flour, beer and baking powder in a bowl until smooth.

  5. Spread the flaked coconut on a shallow plate.

  6. Dip each floured shrimp into the batter, let the excess drip off, then press it into the coconut to coat both sides.

  7. Fry the shrimp in small batches for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until golden and opaque. The thickest part must reach 145°F (63°C).

  8. Lift the shrimp out with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and serve hot.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Beer + coconuttop 13% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together13 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  2. Coconut + shrimptop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together338 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylethanol (rose, floral).

  3. Egg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together104,138 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + beertop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together740 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Beer + shrimptop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together58 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Egg and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 104,138 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs