Bang Bang Shrimp Po’ Boy Sandwich

Last summer my family had the pleasure to travel down south to New Orleans for a nice vacation. Here is where I was introduced to the authentic Po’ Boy and it was everything that I expected. It started with a French baguette layered with shredded lettuce, ripe tomatoes and crispy fried shrimp with a sweet and spicy sauce. I instantly closed my eyes and envisioned making a play off of this creation with my own recipe at home.

If you are a fan of shrimp then this Bang Bang Shrimp Po’ Boy sandwich is perfect for you! The experience of the Louisiana authentic version of the Po’ Boy was so good but I have to put a spin on it to please my personal taste buds. I kept the same fried shrimp concept and used butter lettuce with slices of ripe tomatoes for the fresh acidic note to play off the Bang Bang sauce. The sauce is a simple mixture of ingredients that is quite easy to make. This recipe is simple, quick and delicious!

WHAT IS A PO’ BOY

A Po’ Boy is a sandwich that originated in Louisiana. There are different variations that consist of meat, which could be roast beef, fried seafood like shrimp, crawfish, oysters or crab. The protein is served on French bread because it has a crispy exterior and a fluffy soft inside.

HOW TO MAKE A SHRIMP PO’ BOY

The first step to making a shrimp Po’ Boy is to prepare all of your shrimp by removing the veins and shells. Once they’re cleared out, place them in a mixing bowl. While the shrimp are hanging out, get a cast iron skillet over medium high heat with vegetable oil. Fill the skillet about 1 – 1 1/2” deep and bring the temperature up to 350 degrees F.

While the oil is coming up to temperature it is important to prepare all of the ingredients for the sandwich, this includes the bang bang sauce.

To make the Bang Bang sauce, get a mixing bowl and add in mayo, sriracha, sweet chili sauce, honey and rice wine vinegar. Whisk this together and place it to the side. From here I like to wash my lettuce and tomatoes and then chop the Butter Lettuce until it looks like shredded lettuce and slice my tomatoes into thin slices.

Now that this preparation has taken place the oil should be ready for frying. Get a bowl with a cup of flour and add salt, season salt, garlic powder, cayenne and lemon pepper, whisk this together. In the same bowl as the shrimp, add mustard, hot sauce and a single beaten egg. Hand mix this together until all of the shrimp is covered. Set up the stations for breading the shrimp.

Straight take the shrimp, 3-4 at a time, from the bowl and toss into the flour mixture. Toss the shrimp and coat them generously. Repeat this process until all of the shrimp are breaded. I like to have a sheet pan next to this area to place the breaded shrimp on. Add the shrimp into the hot oil, about 6-8 at a time and fry them for 3 minutes. Make sure the bread is a nice golden brown and crispy. Place the fried shrimp on a separate sheet pan until all of the shrimp is fried.

I used some soft white sub buns for my Po’ Boy but I made sure to toss them on the grill over direct heat for about 90 seconds so they are toasted. Once toasted, I opened them up and laid a nice layer of the shredded butter lettuce, two slices of tomato (be sure to salt the tomato), loads of the fried shrimp and then the Bang Bang sauce got poured on top. When it was finished I am confident to say these are the best Bang Bang Shrimp Po’ Boy Sandwiches!