Trio of Shrimp with Toasted Coconut Salad
The meat is cleverly twisted out of lobster tails and wrapped into a circle of shell and tail meat on a bed of toasted coconut salad. The lobster tail is used as a holder for salad greens and seared shrimp. The island-flavored combination is spiced with a little jalapeno and colored with flecks of green, yellow, and red bell peppers and tiny heirloom tomatoes. If you can’t obtain lobster tails at your market, adding more prawns will fill out the dish.
Ingredients
- Coconut Milk - 14 ounces
- Jalapeno - 1, roasted, seeded, deribbed, and diced (see Basics)
- Habanero - 1, split and seeded
- Oyster Sauce - 1 tablespoon
- Fresh Tarragon - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Fresh Florida lobsters - two 1-1/2 pound, split with tails removed (reserve heads)
- Prawns - 4 large, tails shelled, heads intact
- White Shrimp - 8 large, peeled and deveined
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper - 1 tablespoon
- Olive Oil
- Toasted Coconut-Jalapeno Dressing
- Coconut - 3/4 cup, loosely packed (see Basics)
- Green Bell Pepper - 1/4, minced
- Yellow Bell Pepper - 1/4, minced
- Red Bell Pepper - 1/4, minced
- Rice Wine Vinegar - 3 tablespoons
- Egg Yolks - 2, extra-large
- Dijon mustard - 2 teaspoons
- Jalapeno - 1, roasted, seeded, deribbed, and diced (see Basics)
- Onion - 1 teaspoon, minced
- Cilantro - 1 teaspoon, chopped
- Fish sauce - 1 teaspoon
- Coconut Milk - 3/4 cup
- Palm Sugar - 2 tablespoons, or 2-1/2 tablespoons white sugar
- Sesame Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Vegetable Oil - 1 cup
- Baby Lettuce - 1/2 pound
- Red or yellow pear tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or other combination of small tomatoes - 12
Instructions
To prepare the seafood: Combine all ingredients except the lobster and shrimp. Place in a glass or other nonreactive baking dish and add the lobster, turning to coat. Marinate for 1 hour, then add the shrimp, turn to coat, and continue marinating for one more hour.
To make the dressing: Put the coconut and bell peppers in a large bowl. In the bowl of a food processor, combine all remaining ingredients except the oils,. Blend 1 minute, then, while the processor is running, drizzle in the oils. Remove from processor and pour over the peppers and coconut. Toss to coat.
To finish: Preheat the oven to 500 F. Salt and pepper the lobster tails. Heat a large skillet or griddle over high heat and place the lobster on it, shell-side down. Pan-roast for 6 - 8 minutes. When the meat around the shell begins to turn white and the juice bubbles, turn the tails meat-side-down with tongs and cook for 30 seconds. Place the prawns on a baking sheet and bake in the oven 6 minutes, or until bright pink-orange. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and sear the white shrimp, tossing occasionally, for 1 minute.
To serve: Fill the plates with the coconut and dressing. Remove the meat from the lobster tail but leave connected to the shell at the tail. Twist the meat into a circle. Put one-half tail on each bed of coconut. Stand the lettuces in the empty tail shells. Divide the prawns and shrimp among the plates and center in the tail shell, as if they are coming out.
