Meatless Monday: Bang Bang Shrimp

This past weekend in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen was... interesting. It's been a hot minute since we had a test kitchen fail, but boy did we ever have a fail!!!
Here's a helpful tip: always deep fry in vegetable oil and not olive oil. Why? The smoking point on olive oil is too high, and you'll end up with a pan of oil that's too hot, a smoky kitchen and burned shrimp. Trust us, we know of what we speak. 
Of course all of this had to happen on Halloween, and we were expecting a houseful of people. We ended up with a cold, smoky house. Kind of atmospheric, right?
The bright side of the test kitchen fail, was at least we didn't burn ALL the shrimp, and ended up with a delicious meal! 
If you've ever been to Bonefish Grill restaurants, you've undoubtedly tried the Bang Bang Shrimp: an appetizer of lightly breaded, fried shrimp tossed in a spicy, creamy sauce. Seriously... it's amazing and kind of addictive. One order never seems to be enough. But since we're on a budget (groan); we decided to skip going out to eat, and try making the shrimp at home. Smoked out kitchen aside, we were pretty successful!

Cool Dads Bang Bang Shrimp
Recipe courtesy of: http://feedingbig.com/2014/05/bang-bang-shrimp-copycat-bone-fish-recipe.html#_a5y_p=1898179

For the Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce (such as sambal oelek)
2 teaspoons honey
Kosher salt

For the Shrimp
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined
Bibb lettuce leaves, for serving
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish

Instructions
Make the sauce: Mix the mayonnaise, chili sauce, honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon water in a large bowl; set aside.

Prepare the shrimp: Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a shallow bowl. Whisk the flour, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.
Working in batches, dredge the shrimp in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess, dip in the beaten eggs, then return to the flour mixture, turning to form a thick crust. 

Fry the shrimp in the hot oil until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain the oil temperature. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.

Toss the shrimp with the prepared sauce. Arrange the lettuce in a shallow serving bowl or on individual plates. Top with the shrimp and garnish with scallions.

Note from the Test Kitchen: after we smoked out our kitchen with the oil; we fried all the shrimp in a cast iron skillet in butter. That worked just as well, and gave the shrimp a nice, crispy outside. 

The verdict? We agreed the shrimp was as good as Bonefish Grill, and even though it took a smoky kitchen and some dirty dishes- it was well worth it.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew