Tahitian Vanilla Bean Coconut Shrimp + Bora Bora
Chevrettes à la Vanille et Coco (Tahitian Shrimp in Coconut-Vanilla Sauce)
printable recipe
To lighten this dish, substitute light coconut milk or evaporated milk for the cream.
serves 6
2 lbs medium shrimp or 2 lbs large shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dark rum
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tahitian vanilla beans, sliced open lengthwise
3/4 cup coconut milk
salt & freshly ground black pepper
lime wedges for garnish
shaved, toasted coconut, toasted for garnish (optional)
Peel and clean shrimp, keeping tails on. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan or wok. Saute the shrimp for two to three minutes and or until they have turned pink. *The shrimp would be even better grilled!
Remove them from the pan and set aside. Remove the balance of olive oil from pan.
Add rum and the vanilla bean to the frying pan and reduce the rum until it is nearly evaporated (down to about 2 tablespoons).
Add the cream and coconut milk, and reduce the mixture by 50%. Scrape seeds out of the vanilla pod and discard pod. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Shrimp can either be mixed into the sauce and served or mounded on a rice and the sauce poured over all. Garnish with lime wedges (the shrimp really need lime squeezed over) and parsley. Sprinkle toasted coconut over top if desired. Sauted chard makes a nice and traditional side. I served fried plantain slices with the shrimp. While they were a fun tropical addition, we found them rater bland. Perhaps they needed a pinch of good salt.
Recipe adapted from Vanilla.com
I saw this on facebook and had to come over and drool. Bora Bora, what a beautiful place to have a honeymoon. I love the flavor profile of this meal. I'm highly addicted to any food that had pineapple or coconut. I just made some Luau kabobs that I'm going to past next!! I can't wait to make these coconut shrimp! Happy Thursday!
Water bungalows are such fun, where did you learn to cook? I am in awe of your lifestyle.
Water bungalows are such fun, where did you learn to cook? I am in awe of your lifestyle.
Lucky lady! I've been dying to go to Tahiti for a long time now! Your photos are amazing! It must've been difficult to leave…
(If you can't tell, I'm in desperate need of a vacation!)
Gillian.xo
Baby Talk without the Babble
oh yummy, and lucky girl to be able to visit such a stunning place!
Amazing colors! Gonna bug David about adding Tahiti to our list! And as always…the food looks yummy!
I HEART coconut milk!
The dish looks divine, and the photos.. I have my bags packed!!!
This looks delicious, I'm definitely going to try it! And now I think I have to go to Bora Bora! I just started a food blog of my own–check it out when you have time… curlygirlkitchen.blogspot.com
What an incredible place to visit. This shrimp looks to die for! I just bookmarked it and can't wait to give it a try. Your blog is absolutely gorgeous!! I'm so glad I found it!! 🙂
My parents did a cruise to Tahiti and an additional week in BoraBora. They brought me back vanilla beans (at my request). Thank you for the recipe ideas!