cook

First, something we can recreate accurately,the dipping sauces.

First, the honey mustard,which I think you can figure out how to make.Then for the tangy, sweet and sour sauce,I'm gonna combine three ounces of rice wine vinegar,one ounce of soy sauce, two ounces of pineapple juice,half teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes,about one ounce of ketchup,and five ounces of granulated sugar in a small sauce pan.

I've also got three ounces of water,about one ounce of which I'm gonna add to the mixture,tiny whisking to combine,and bringing to a simmer over medium heat,then whisking two tablespoons of cornstarchinto that remaining two ounces of waterand slowly adding to the simmering saucetiny whisking all the while.This is gonna thicken the sauceand give it that characteristically, glossy, gooey,distinctly fast food dipping sauce texture.

It's a little too light, so I'm gonna darken itwith some extra soy sauce, bring it back to a simmer,and cook for about one minute until thickened.Those are the only two dipping sauces mentioned in the show,but I wanted to capturethe honey walnut shrimp from Panda Express.So I'm combining half a cup of Kewpie mayo with a juice of half a lemon,two tablespoons sweetened condensed milk,one tablespoon of honey,and normally this would just be tossed with shrimpand walnuts, but I'm grinding my walnuts downto a sandy texture to add to the dipping sauce,so that it's an all-inclusive vehicle.

So there's our trio of sauces.Now it's time to decide shrimp or prawns.While the terms are often used interchangeably,shrimp are typically salt watered dwelling curly little guys like this,while prawns tend to be found in fresh water,have straighter bodiesand range from being slightly bigger than shrimpto being downright lobster-like.Now, given their bite-sized nature,I think we're going with shrimp.Specifically medium, small, 31 to 40 shrimp like these that is there are 31 to 40 of them in a pound.No matter your shrimp or how you're cooking them,it's always best practice to dry brine them in a mixtureof one tablespoon kosher salt to one teaspoon baking soda,toss and combine and let these hang out in the fridgefor 30 minutes to one hour.Next up, the breading,and I'm gonna try a bunch of different methodsto try to recreate that popplers aesthetic.

First, the bare bones flour and egg,pinch of baking powder added to the flour is gonna help with browning and a pinch of saltand flour added to eggs is gonna help them beat into a more cohesive slurry.I'm gonna do two shrimp per batch,one for eating, one for looking,starting in the flour,making sure they're thoroughly coated,shaking off any excess, sending over to the egg,make sure no dry patches remain,and back over to the flour, pressing onto the shrimpto make sure that it is fully ensconced in breading.

Then, it's time to fry.Everybody today is gonna be fried in canola oilat 375 degrees Fahrenheit.These shrimp are smalland they're gonna overcook very quickly,so we want to cook them very fastly,ideally between 30 seconds to one minute.And right off the bat, the flour and egg breadingis proving to not be ideal,taking almost three minutes to achieve a state of golden browndedness.The shrimp aren't dry by any measureand their texture is somewhat protectedby the baking soda brine, but they are a bit bouncy,and springy, bringing us to our next breading:bread or breadcrumbs.To make our own breadcrumbs,we're crusting and cubing four slices of white bread,arranging the cubes on a rim baking sheetand placing in a low 200 degree Fahrenheit ovenfor about two hours or until completely dry,allow to cool completelyand process into homemade breadcrumbs.Breading similarly as before,starting with flour than to egg, but then finishing in the crumbs.

Now because these bread crumbs were dried out in the oven,achieving a golden brown crunch in about 30 seconds.

flour, then egg, then crumb,and frying for the same breathless 30 seconds.The result is an incredibly tender and juicy shrimpthat's super crisp thanks to the big old honk and crumbs.So now we've breaded with bread,but what about breading with non breaded, specifically coconut?that I'm processing down to a finer texture.by virtue of a batter.I'm starting with five and a half ounces of flour,quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper,and one teaspoon of baking powder,regular sized whisk until homogenous.And then in a separate bowl with liquid element,I'm combining half a cup of beer, one large egg,and a quarter cup of coconut milk in this recipe,inspired by America's Test Kitchen.I'm also gonna add the zest of one limebefore whisking to combine, and then adding the dry stuff,whisk until just combined.It's okay if there are still few lumps,then my breading is gonna be a 50/50 mix of Pankoand coconut tossed combined.And then, here comes the shrimp.First, into the flourto make sure that the batter adheres to the shrimp,then into the batter, then into the breading,then into the oil,frying, once again, for 30 seconds to one minute.As you can see, because of my quick cooking Panko,I have sort of a leopard print thing going on here.But in addition to being tender, these guys were zesty,sweet and flavorful.Next up, I thought I'd try a bare bones beer batter,combining one cup flour, half cup corn starch,pinch of salt, and a half teaspoon of baking powder.Beer batter takes a while to brown, so I'm hopingthat this will help speed things up.Whisk to combine, and then slowly add your beer,adjusting as necessary until you get a paint like consistency.We're doing the two station dipping method,going from flour to batter and straight into the fryer.Now these guys came out pretty delicious,