Shrimp Po' Boys (prawns)
Recipe video above. This famous Louisiana classic is one heck of a sandwich! Crispy cajun seasoned fried shrimp stuffed into rolls with lettuce, tomato, pickles and a generous slather of tangy remoulade sauce. SO enjoyable to eat! Great to make for friends, or for a fun lunch or dinner on weekends.PS Shrimp = prawns for us Aussies, but I'm sticking with the American name here because calling it a Prawn Po' Boy just feels wrong!
Servings: 4
Calories: 780cal
Ingredients
- 500g/ 1 lb large shrimp/prawns , peeled and deveined - either frozen and thawed (Note 1)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt , for sprinkling cooked shrimp/prawns
- 2 - 3 cups canola oil or other plain oil, for cooking
Cajun coating:
- 1/3 cup fine cornmeal , or cornflour/cornstarch (Note 2)
- 1/3 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt , + extra for sprinkling
- 1 tbsp paprika , sweet/regular
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper , optional (for barely-there spiciness)
Remoulade sauce:
- 2 1/2 tbsp Dijon or yellow mustard - Creole mustard if you've got it! (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (ie with the little mustard seeds in it), or more smooth mustard (Note 3)
- 1 1/4 cups whole-egg mayonnaise (Note 4)
- 2 tsp prepared horseradish (horseradish cream)
- 1 tsp pickle juice (ie juice from a jar of pickles) or white vinegar
- 1 tsp tabasco
- 1 large garlic clove , finely grated
- 2 tsp paprika , sweet/regular
Sandwich:
- 4 crusty white rolls , about 20cm / 8" long - or 2 French sticks cut
- 1/4 cup dill pickles , finely sliced on an angle
- 2 tomatos , halved and sliced
- 2 cups (packed) shredded cos lettuce (romaine) or iceberg
- Salted table butter , softened, for spreading on rolls
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Toss all shrimp in egg, then coat in Cajun coating. Fry 2 - 3 min. Spread warmed rolls with butter, then base with remoulade. Pile in this order: pickles, lettuce, tomato, shrimp, drizzle with remoulade. Enjoy!
FULL RECIPE:
- Remoulade - Mix the ingredients in a bowl and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours meld.
- Lightly warm rolls (Note 5) - Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Wrap the bread in foil (2 rolls per parcel) and put them in the oven. Turn the oven off. This will warm them through and make them lightly crispy. You can leave them there for up to 45 minutes.
- Cajun coating - Mix the ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Pat dry - Pat the shrimp (prawns) dry with paper towels. This helps it stick better. (I just do this in the colander I thawed them in, just sort of moving them around!)
- Egg - Whisk the egg in a separate medium bowl. Put all the shrimp into the egg and mix to coat.
- Coat shrimp/prawns - Pick up a shrimp with your hand and let the excess egg drip off, then place into the Cajun flour bowl. Do as many shrimp as you can do so they are in a single layer on the flour mixture. Pick up the bowl and toss to coat the shrimp in the flour. Grab a few shrimp in your hand and lightly squeeze to adhere the coating well, shake off excess flour (using your fingers as a colander!), then put on a plate. Repeat with all remaining shrimp.
- Fry - Heat 2cm / 0.8" of oil in a heavy based skillet or large pot over medium high heat to 180°C/350°F. Fry half the shrimp for 2 - 3 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining shrimp. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Stuff - To assemble the sandwich, split a roll but don't cut all the way through. Spread the base with butter then 1 tablespoon of remoulade. Layer with pickles then tomato and shredded lettuce. Stuff with as many shrimp as you can, then drizzle with a generous amount of remoulade. Devour immediately!
Notes
1. Shrimp/prawn size - Use large or medium shrimp so you can stuff them into the rolls better. I use frozen for convenience (L or XL that looks like L) - thaw thoroughly. If peeling your own fresh prawns, you'll need about 1kg / 2 lb.
2. Cornmeal - Dried ground corn, gives the shrimp the signature po boy extra crunchy dainty gritty cuts. Use fine ground cornmeal, not coarse (works, but is more visible). Honestly though, you can't taste it, so I don't think it's worth getting a packet especially for this recipe, just substitute with cornflour/cornstarch (more crunchy than using just flour).
Note - Australia - cornmeal is commonly sold labelled polenta, which is confusing because polenta is technically the dish made from cornmeal! Polenta is coarse ground cornmeal. We want fine ground for this recipe.
3. Mustard - If you have Creole mustard, use that instead of both mustards. Otherwise, use this mix.
Dijon v regular yellow mustard - Either works beautifully, especially with all the other flavours going on in the sauce! I like the warmer yellow colour you get from regular yellow mustard, but Dijon has a slightly more sophisticated flavour.
4. Mayonnaise - Use whole-egg mayonnaise or kewpie, or make your own! These have a smoother flavour than regular mayonnaise which can be sharper and usually sweeter.
5. Warming bread - Bizarrely, this is where I kept stuffing up! Leave the rolls too long and they get overly crusty, they're harder to stuff and the shrimp goes flying out unless you take massive bites that not even I can manage. This foil wrapped turned-off oven method is foolproof so they toast lightly, and keeps them warm for up to 45 minutes.
6. Re-using oil - The oil stays fairly clean because the shrimp cooks quickly. Strain out the flour bits, then re-use for seasoned foods like Popcorn Chicken, Crispy Fried Chicken Burgers or Fried Chicken. Avoid plain flavoured fried foods like fries or battered fish as the Cajun flavour left in the oil will transfer.
Recipe references - Deep dive into Google and watching YouTube videos, the resources that probably had the most influence on the versions I tried that eventually lead to the final recipe include this video of the chef-owner of Guy's Po-Boys who's spent 34 years making Po Boys, this recipe from Dale Curry's New Orleans Home Cooking and this recipe from Emeril Lagasse. The remoulade recipe is slightly adapted from this one on Simply Recipes. But mostly, it was about making it as close to what I had in New Orleans!
Leftover cooked shrimp will keep for 3 days though they soften. This really is best enjoyed freshly made!
Nutrition per sandwich, includes an estimate of oil retained on the shrimp from frying, and assumes each sandwich uses 1/4 cup remoulade.
Nutrition
Calories: 780cal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 54g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 29g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 214mg | Sodium: 2119mg | Potassium: 584mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 2440IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 183mg | Iron: 4mg