Shrimp Po’Boy

Years ago my partner Kate and I went on a tour that included a stay in New Orleans. It was Kate’s second time there and she wanted to take me to a place she’d been to on the first visit where she’d had a life-changing po’boy.

Only, she couldn’t remember where it was. We spent hours wondering Nola’s back streets looking for it. She got annoyed, I got annoyed, we both got hungry. But then, she found it.

My first po’boy was one packed with slices of beef and gravy and I was in love. Our trek to find the place was soon forgotten. The staff and chef were amazing and took these tired and hungry travellers under their wings. We’d ordered loads more, ignoring their warnings about portion size, and of course I could barely eat half the po’boy. it was huge.

So when I was asked to devise a recipe for Morrison’s over Summer 2020 that paid homage to the US travels we weren’t allowed to have because of Coronavirus, I immediately thought back to that happy. Instead of beef I went for shrimp because it’s perfect for warm times.

It’s an easy recipe and one that will delight everyone.

Serves 2

Ingredients

225g The Best King Prawns, defrosted

150ml Morrisons buttermilk

2tbsp Morrisons Cajun seasoning

1 small Morrisons baguette

¼ iceberg lettuce, thinly shredded

2 tomatoes, sliced

8 pickle slices

150g plain flour

150 fine cornmeal

1tsp baking powder

Salt

Sauce

1tsp chopped capers

1tbsp chopped pickles

2tbsp mayonnaise

2tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp mustard

Vegetable oil for frying

Chives, finely chopped for garnish

Method:

Add prawns, 1tbsp of Cajun seasoning and buttermilk and mix, being careful to not break up prawns. Leave for 30 mins. 

Mix all sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Shake off excess buttermilk from prawns and add to flour mix, shake to cover and remove onto a plate, ensuring prawns are not touching each other. Repeat until all prawns are done. Leave for 5 minutes. 

In a pan, heat oil over a medium-high heat until it reaches 170C - to test, add some flour mix to the oil. It should start fizzing within seconds. 

Carefully add prawns one-by-one, being careful to not overcrowd the pan. Once golden and crispy - after 4 to 5 minutes - remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towel. Repeat until all prawns are cooked. 

Slice baguette in half across the middle, and then again lengthways but not all the way through, so it opens like a book. 

Generously spoon sauce onto both sides, then add pickles and tomatoes to one side, then the lettuce. Add prawns on top, and garnish with chopped chives.

Close your eyes, take a bite and imagine you’re in New Orleans.