Coconut Shrimp Poppers with Chili Mango Cream - From Pinch My Salt

I am regular reader / admirer of Nicole from Pinch My Salt. As soon as I read her review post for Coconut Shrimp Poppers with Chili Mango Cream I had it marked for a trial. Luckily for me, one of our close family friends came for a sleepover and wanted to have fish for dinner.

I had no clue to what kind of fish they would like except for a fact that one of their kids likes Shrimps. So Shrimps were definitely on my menu. I thought the recipe was mild enough for kids. I made these and OMG these poppers were a hit with kids and adults alike. The only teeny tiny bit I did not like was that the Shrimp took in a little too much oil - yes even after I used paper towels to drain off the oil. The dip was swoon worthy.

Adapted with some changes from Nicole's post . Watch Carmell Childs create these tasty poppers in her Real Women of Philadelphia video entry.

Coconut Shrimp Poppers with Chili  Mango Cream
Ingredients for the Chili Mango Cream
4 Oz of whipped Philadelphia Cream Cheese (room temp.)
1 large sweet ripe mango (mine wasn't so sweet)
2 canned pineapple ring
3 – 4 tablespoons Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
a pinch of salt
1 tsp of Crushed Red Pepper flakes

Ingredients for Shrimp Poppers
30 count Extra Large Shrimps ( Raw and De veined)
1/2 Cup Flour (seasoned with salt and pepper)
2 large eggs
2 Oz Philly Cream Cheese (at room temp) * Optional see notes below
1 lemon, zested
1 cup of Panko bread crumbs
1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut
Vegetable Oil for deep frying * Pour this just enough 'coz after all the frying it is unusable again

Method
For the Cream
1. Peel and dice mango into chunks; combine with pineapple ring and cream cheese and puree in mini blender until smooth. In a medium bowl empty the pureed fruit cream, add desired amount of chili sauce, salt, crushed pepper and mix to combine and chill.

2. Rinse and pat dry shrimp. Pour flour in a deep bowl and season with 1/2 tsp salt and a few twist of ground pepper. In a separate deep bowl, combine 2 oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese, eggs, and lemon zest; mix until incorporated. In a third deep bowl mix together Panko crumbs and coconut.
3. Toss shrimp in flour; shaking off excess, dip in egg, then lightly press and cover entire shrimps in coconut mixture; set aside on large platter.
4. In a deep saucepan, heat oil till ready for deep frying.  Fry shrimp, 4-5 at a time, for 1/2-1 minute or until golden brown.
5. Place on a paper towel-lined plate and immediately sprinkle with sea salt to taste (I forgot to add the salt so it tasted a bit sweet). Serve warm with chili mango Cream.

Notes:
1. I cut down the cream cheese in the chili mango cream as I thought it was a tad bit too much
2. I forgot to add the sea salt after frying but I do think it would have made a difference.
3. I ran out of my egg and cream cheese mixture towards the end, and I then quickly made a little additional but skipped the cream cheese. I couldn't much make out the difference. So really the 2 Oz cream cheese for dipping shrimps is according to me optional.
Enjoy !!!