Tequila Lime Shrimp Cakes

1. First, chop the shrimp into little pieces. Combine it in a large bowl with the lime juice, lime zest, tequila, smoked paprika and chili powder and stir it all together. Cover the bowl and let the shrimp marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
2. While the shrimp marinate, prepare the herb lime mayo. Wrap the bottom of a mixing bowl in a cold, wet towel. This is going to help the mayo come together and emulsify. Combine the lime juice through salt in the mixing bowl. Whisk them together thoroughly. Slowly and steadily pour in the canola oil while you keep whisking vigorously. Once all of the oil is whisked in you will have a gorgeous homemade mayo. It takes 5 minutes to make!
3. When the shrimp is done marinating, it’s time to form the tequila lime shrimp cakes! Drain the marinade out of the bowl and discard it—it has served its delicious purpose. Then in the same bowl, combine the shrimp with the herb lime mayo, breadcrumbs, eggs, shallot, bell pepper and salt. Bring it all together into a lovely, uniform mixture. Form the mixture into the desired sized patties. They shouldn’t be made too big or they won’t hold together. With the size that I made mine, I yielded 5. Dredge each of the patties in the additional breadcrumbs to coat them. I threw in some panko breadcrumbs with the regular to add more texture. Put them on a plate, cover them, and let them set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. While the cakes are setting, prepare the avocado sauce. It’s really easy! Put the flesh of the avocado and lime juice into a blender and puree it until it is smooth. Spoon it out into a bowl and thin it out with a splash of water. Stir in Sriracha and salt until the heat and seasoning are to your taste.
5. When the tequila lime shrimp cakes are set, get a large pan on the stove and fill it with about 2-3 inches of canola oil to pan fry them. Heat the oil over medium heat, it needs to be a gentle pan frying so that the shrimp get perfectly cooked at the same time the outer crust gets gorgeous and golden. Cook the tequila lime shrimp cakes for about 2-3 minutes on each side, working in batches. I do 2 or 3 items in the pan at a time when I am pan frying so that I can really babysit everything. Transfer them to a plate lined with paper towel to drain the oil. Finish frying the rest.
6. Now it’s time to plate, serve and enjoy! Spoon a big dollop of the avocado sauce onto a plate, then nestle the cake right on top of it. I never put the sauce on top of anything I pan fry, it would obscure all of the work I did to develop a beautiful crust! Garnish the plate with lime wedges.The big flavors here just speak summer to me, these little cakes are perfection.