Shrimp Po-Boys
 In my opinion, nobody makes them better than Bozo's in Pascagoula on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  It's been a mainstay since 1957.  They also sell Christmas trees during the season.  I remember going there as a little girl with Daddy to pick out our tree.  It's a winning combo  - Po Boys and Christmas trees!!
Po Boys were first created nearly 100 years ago in New Orleans, by Benny and Clovis Martin.  Benny and Clovis were former streetcar conductors; during the 1929 streetcar workers went on strike.  Benny and Clovis gave Po Boy sandwiches to the strikers.  Benny reportedly said that ,"Whenever we saw one of the striking men coming, one of us would say, 'Here comes another poor boy.'"  There are other versions of the Po Boy's birth.  You can read more in an article named, "The Messy History of the Po Boy" at NOLA.com .
Print Friendly and PDF
Picture

​Po Boys Using Mama's Fried Shrimp Recipe
2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
a lot of self-rising flour
salt and black pepper to taste
2 large-size brown paper grocery bags
Po Poy Buns - or French Bread
mayonnaise or Remoulade Sauce (recipe below)
tomatoes - sliced very thin
lemon slices for squeezing on your shrimp, if you must -
​I must!
lettuce (I personally don't like lettuce on mine)
pickles (optional - don't like them on it either)
  1. Peel, devein, and wash shrimp.
  2. Mix in brown paper grocery bag: a lot of self-rising flour with salt and pepper.
  3. Put 2 handfuls of shrimp in a large bowl of water. Dip shrimp up with hands (Make sure it's still dripping!) and drop in the paper bag. Take out of bag with hands and place on a platter (shaking a bit of batter off).
  4. Fry in hot oil (over 1/2 pot full of oil). Don't overcook! They will still brown a bit after you take them out.
  5. Put cooked shrimp in new grocery bag to drain and keep warm while cooking the next batch.
  6. Lightly toast the bun under the broiler of you oven or in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop.
  7. Add mayo or remoulade sauce (recipe below),tomatoes, and pickles.
Tips:  Keep swatting away the hands that try to steal the cooked shrimp from the 2nd grocery bag!
New Orleans Remoulade Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
2 and 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced - freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped fine
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 teaspoons capers, chopped just a bit

​1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons onion, minced or chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  1. Stir together:  all ingredients together in a bowl. 
  2. Cover and let sit for an hour, then use or store in refrigerator.