Bang Bang Shrimp

Are you all familiar with Bonefish Grill? If not, it's a "moderately expensive" chain restaurant that specializing in seafood cooked over a wood-burning grill. We have one in our town center and it's always busy, especially on the weekends. Their most popular appetizer is this crispy and spicy Bang, Bang shrimp. I found a copycat recipe online and decided to give it a try at home.

Success!! This recipe was very, very close to what we get at Bonefish. It starts off with shrimp that are coated with a seasoned flour-Panko breading, then fried till golden brown.


They are then tossed with the special "Bang Bang" sauce, a combo of mayo, chili garlic sauce and rice vinegar, that makes this appetizer addictively good!


I won't lie though, this is not a figure friendly meal (fried & mayo) but it's not like your going to be making this every day either...so, go ahead and enjoy! We sure did!! My husband thought this tasted very authentic and my son raved and raved about it! I actually served it to him with the sauce on the side, in case he thought it was too spicy, but the sauce was his favorite part...surprise :)

Our entire meal was actually Bonefish inspired. I also made these seared scallops with warm mango salsa over Jasmin rice...all the yum, but no big bill at the end!


Ingredients:

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

SPICY SAUCE:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

FOR THE EGG MIXTURE:
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk

FOR THE BREADING MIXTURE:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried basil

FOR FRYING:
8 to 12 cups vegetable oil

GARNISH:
1 handful of shredded romaine lettuce
1 green onion, chopped (green part only)

Combine all ingredients for the spicy sauce in a small bowl; cover and set aside.

Combine beaten egg with milk in shallow bowl; set aside.

Combine flour, panko, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil in another shallow bowl; set aside.

Bread the shrimp by first coating each with the breading mixture. Dip breaded shrimp into the egg and milk mixture, and then back into the breading. Arrange the coated shrimp on a plate and pop them into the fridge for at least 20 minutes. This step will help the breading to stick on the shrimp when they are frying.

Heat oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Use amount of oil required by your fryer.

When oil is hot, fry shrimp 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels.

When all shrimp has been fried, drop the shrimp into a large bowl. Spoon about 1/4 cup of sauce over shrimp and stir gently to coat.

TO SERVE:
Stack shrimp on bed of mixed greens, sprinkle the stack with chopped green onion.

Serves 2 to 4 as appetizer

Source: Inspired by Bonefish Grill, recipe adapted from Secret Restaurant Recipes.