New Orleans was one of my favorite cities to visit. It has so much history, so much culture…and so much GOOD FOOD. One of their staples is the Po’ Boy. In the Big Easy, you can get a choice of what kind you want. The shrimp I’d say, is the most traditional, and was my top choice. It’s a simple sandwich, really. With crispy shrimp, the cool lettuce, crunchy pickles, that delicious remoulade, and a soft club roll.
Fried shrimp is probably one of my favorite treats,
whether they’re coconut shrimp, beer battered, or just the plain old fried, they’re always a crowd pleaser. We always have them on Christmas Eve, it’s a staple at our table. Last year, during Quarantine, I was really trying to switch up our dinners, since we were home 24/7. Food gets boring! One of the things I made were these Shrimp Po’ Boys. I’m not sure why it took almost a year later to make them again, since they were a homerun. Regardless, I start with large frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined (let someone else do the hard work for you!). The mixture of corn meal and flour gives the shrimp a nice crunch, and the cayenne, paprika and garlic powder, give them a little spice kick.
I like to keep them simple, as they do down south, with sliced iceberg lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles and the remoulade. Let’s talk about the remoulade, which earns an honorable mention, IMO. I love condiments – give me allllll the condiments. Ketchup, honey mustard, BBQ, aioli’s, special sauces, mayo, hot sauce, remoulades. One of my favorite things to make is mayo or greek yogurt with chopped cherry peppers. The spiciness and the brininess of the pickled cherry peppers create this great sauce that can be put on anything. This remoulade reminds me of that – with the mayo and diced pickles, paprika and a touch of Dijon.
If you wanted to make this sandwich with crispy oysters, clams, pieces of chicken…. feel free! Any sort of fried sandwich is OK in my book ! 🙂
Shrimp Po Boys
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of frozen large shrimp I use raw peeled and deveined
- 1 cup of Wondra flour AP flour would work as well
- ½ cup of corn meal
- ½ cup of buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce
- Oil for frying I use corn or canola
Shrimp Seasoning
- ½ tablespoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne
- ½ teaspoon of pepper
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
Sandwiches
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
- Sliced tomatoes
- Sliced pickles
- 4 club rolls
Remoulade
- ¼ cup of mayo
- 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons of diced pickles I like Dill pickles
- 1 teaspoon hot cherry pepper mix optional
- ½ teaspoon of paprika
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- Few dashes of worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preparation:
- Defrost the shrimp in a bowl of cold water.
- While the shrimp is defrosting, make the remoulade. Combine all of the remoulade ingredients in a small bowl and mix until everything is incorporated. Refrigerate at least half hour, up to 2 days.
- Make your seasoning for the shrimp. Combine the salt, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder and pepper and set aside.
- In two medium bowls, combine the buttermilk and the hot sauce in one, and the cornmeal and flour in the other. Take one teaspoon of the shrimp seasoning and add it to the flour/corn meal mixture, mixing until everything is combined.
- When the shrimp is defrosted, drain the water and pat the shrimp dry. Pour the rest of the seasoning on the shrimp and mix well. Set up your dredging area. First you will have the buttermilk, then the cornmeal/flour, and then a baking sheet covered by a cooling rack or parchment paper.
- Take the shrimp and dredge in the buttermilk, let the excess come off, and then dredge in the seasoned flour until it’s completely covered, and lay on the baking sheet. When all the shrimp is breaded, refrigerate at least 20 minutes.
- While your shrimp is chilling in the fridge, set up a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet, to place the fried shrimp on as they come out of the oil.
- In a deep pot (4-6 quarts) pour about 3” of oil and let it come to about 350 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, carefully sprinkle some flour into the hot oil, and if it ripples and looks like its frying, it’s ready. Fry your shrimp in batches, flipping half way to ensure both sides are golden brown. The first batch will take a little longer, but after that it should only take a few minutes. Using a slotted spoon, take the fried shrimp out and place on the cooling rack.
- Once all the shrimp are fried, set up a shrimp po boy assembly line. Take the remoulade out of the fridge, slice the club rolls open. A thick layer of remoulade, shredded lettuce, tomato, pickle, and fried shrimp. Enjoy!!
Omg, that looks and sounds delicious!!!!!