The ‘tail’ continues: People are now making Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp
On the light side of news this week has been the overwhelmingly persistent tale — or rather, tail — of comedian and producer Jensen Karp finding shrimp remains in his Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal.
On Tuesday, Karp told TODAY Food he was in the hospital being tested after consuming a bowl of the cereal. In the three bags purchased from a Costco in Los Angeles, Karp and his wife, Danielle Fishel, also found what looked like rat droppings and dental floss. The cereal's parent company General Mills is investigating the situation but holds the stance that the mishap must have happened after leaving its facility. The latest is that Karp mailed the corporation some samples of the shrimp and will also have a third-party test bits of objects to determine whether they're really shrimp.
Just as folks at home began to feel like maybe this viral news thread was puttering out, tweeters performed an encore. And by encore, we mean people creating memes and cooking demos transforming the Karps' plight into real recipes and fake campaigns.
“To save their company, Cinnamon Toast Crunch needs to make cereal classy again, and what’s classier than shrimp?” one tweeter wrote.
“To save their company, Cinnamon Toast Crunch needs to make cereal classy again, and what’s classier than shrimp?” pic.twitter.com/pXs2RgZh5c
— Elyza Halpern (@elyzawithawhy) March 23, 2021
That's a good question. And one that podcaster and cookbook author Josh Scherer, aka the Mythical Chef, posed when creating his Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shrimp recipe.
"I regret to inform you that I have made Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp with charred pineapple habanero reduction. Sorry. I had to though, I really did," Scherer wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
I regret to inform you that I have made Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp with charred pineapple habanero reduction. Sorry. I had to though, I really did. pic.twitter.com/JzYe7VMiBB
— Josh Scherer (@MythicalChef) March 23, 2021
The video now has more than a million views.
Before sharing how Scherer made this dish (for all the people who maintained their appetites after seeing Karp's reports of shellfish and fecal matter "cooked" into his cereal), let's just say that cereal can be a very good substitute for bread crumbs when frying proteins. Jeff Mauro's kid-friendly chicken fingers coated in Honey Nut Cereal, for example, are crunchy, sweet, tender and delicious.
Jeff Mauro's Honey-Nut Cereal Chicken Fingers by Jeff Mauro
While cinnamon and shrimp may be a more jarring combo, the premise for this recipe is not all that bad.
So here we go. This is how Scherer made what we're calling ...
Cinnamon Toast Crustacean
Add the cereal and some ground ginger to a food processor.
Dip raw shrimp in egg white, then into the cereal mixture until well coated. Then fry 'em up in boiling oil.
Broil a chunk of pineapple and a habanero pepper and blend it well with a pinch of salt, white vinegar and lots of honey.
Put the glaze in a sauce pot with some orange zest. Toss in the fried shrimp and plate it up with a garnish of cinnamon toast crunch bits, a sliced serrano chili and some lime wedges.
Andy Lunique, a marketer and former chef, also posted his Cinnamon Toast Crunch-crusted creation, to which Karp responded, "Honestly, would still eat this."
Honestly, would still eat this. https://t.co/im2wOwdTPR
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 24, 2021