There is a story behind the name of this dish. A few years ago my husband and I stayed in Meredith, NH to celebrate his birthday. We went to a restaurant called Canoe Restaurant and Tavern. We had a delicious calamari appetizer. As I was eating it I was thinking about the flavors and what they might have used to make the dish. I told my husband that I would definitely try to re-create this fried calamari recipe at home.
It turned out amazing and I make it often. In fact, I canoe lots of things. I have made this recipe with meatballs and scallops as well. I am posting the pan fried shrimp recipe because it is the easiest to make and quick enough for a weeknight meal. I usually make this as an appetizer when people come over but I also make it for dinner along with a starch and vegetable as I am tonight. I am providing you with the brand name sauces that I used because they all vary so much. I tried using another garlic chili pepper sauce and I didn’t like the results. I’m pretty confident that if you try these pan fried shrimp once you will keep making them. They are that good.
Canoe Pan Fried Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh or frozen raw shrimp 26-30 or even better 16-20 per pound.
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 1/2 tbsp hot sauce I use Frank’s Red Hot
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup La Choy sweet and sour sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
- A Taste of Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Defrost shrimp if frozen.
- Shell and devein shrimp but leave the tail in tact.
- Add the hot sauce to the eggs and mix well.
- Combine the flour and cornmeal in a bag.
- Add shrimp to the egg mixture and let sit for a few minutes. (I find that leaving them in gives the shrimp a chance to absorb the flavor of the hot sauce)
- Take the shrimp out and shake off excess eggs and add them to the bag of the flour mixture.
- Shake off excess flour and put them on a plate.
- Heat the 3T oil in a large non stick skillet.
- cook the shrimp at medium heat on one side until golden brown and do the same for the other side.
- Put shrimp on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Salt to taste.
- Clean out the skillet and add the sweet and sour sauce along with the 1T oil and cook on medium until bubbly.
- Add the shrimp and toss constantly untill all the shrimp is coated with the sauce.
- Serve immediately with the garlic chili pepper sauce.
- Enjoy!
