Here, the toasted coconut is not a crust; it's only on the shrimp as part of a very scant, very thin but very delicious glaze that is spooned over shrimp and brown, saffron, jasmine, or white rice. Because we live far, far from civilization and I must grow my own red Thai bird peppers, this dish only appears on our table in summer. I really need to experiment with more readily available hot peppers.
Thai bird peppers can be tiny, and if you don't like 'hot', no problem, they're not meant to be ingested here anyway---- use them whole --- then simply pluck them out when serving or better yet, leave them in for color and remind people not to eat them. But don't just skip using them; they add an important depth of flavor to the dish.
This goes together quickly, so have all your ingredients next to the stove, and your rice and sides ready before you begin the shrimp. Shrimp toughens too quickly for the cook to be collecting what you need as they're cooking.
Use a pound of the largest raw shrimp you can find - shell & clean them well, rinse, butterfly, and dry thoroughly on paper towels. In a small dry skillet, toast 1/4 cup flaked or chipped coconut, stirring very frequently so it browns evenly but doesn't burn. Set aside. Chipped ( flat chips, flaked) coconut is worth looking for.
In a large wok or pan, heat 1-2 TB veg oil til just it begins smoking and add the shrimp just briefly- a minute or two, until you think they are about halfway cooked; then remove from the pan. Add 3 green onions, green and whites, cut in 2" lengths, a TB of chopped garlic, a big pinch of salt and maybe a half dozen little red Thai bird peppers. Don't skip the peppers! Stir just briefly, for less than a minute, before adding 4 TB butter, 6 TB cognac, 2 tsp sugar. Reduce a minute or two, then return the shrimp to the pan and finish cooking for a couple minutes more. The sauce should glaze the shrimp. Stir in the toasted coconut and serve immediately, spooning the sauce over the shrimp. It's tempting to use a very large pan, but your sauce will cook off too quickly over a larger surface and there won't be enough; better to use a medium skillet, cook the shrimp in two batches, then combine them at the end.
Credit for this recipe may go to Jaden Hair, although I've seen it several places...once a recipe circulates thru magazines and the internet, it's hard to know who invented and who tweaked what. In any case, it's simply delicious!
