Polenta aka “Tun Cornmeal” was considered dog food back in Jamaica when I was a child. Turned cornmeal with scraps of leftover meats added to it was the dog’s favorite meal.
Today in Jamaica, tun/turned cornmeal has become an all-time favorite side dish. You now find it on the menu of many restaurants.
Traditionally, Jamaican Polenta is cooked with vegetables, herbs, coconut milk, and salted meat such as corned pork or salted fish. However, there are different recipe variations to this delicious side dish. Check out MiQuel’s Youtube video Turn Cornmeal Recipe Jamaican Style.
Polenta or Cornmeal Porridge?
In the United States, “Tun Cornmeal” is called Polenta and is an Italian staple. In Jamaica, cooked cornmeal is referred to as tun (turned) because it requires a lot of turning or stirring while cooking.
Polenta is the savory version of cornmeal porridge. This is one of my favorite hot cereals to have for breakfast.
Cornmeal porridge is cooked similar to Polenta but is sweetened with sugar and/or condensed milk. In addition, spices such as nutmeg and vanilla extract are added for flavor. The texture is fluid when hot, but thickens when cooled.
Polenta vs. Grits
Polenta is similar to grits. The main difference between the two is that Polenta is made from the kernels of the yellow corn while grits are made from the white corn.
Cornmeal is a very versatile food item. Whichever ways you enjoy cooking it, you will also love and enjoy cooking this creamy corn side dish topped with a sweet pan-seared shrimp. You will also get an additional bonus recipe showcasing my Fried Polenta Cake.
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Creamy Polenta with Sweet Pan-Seared Shrimp.
Here Are All The Ingredients You Will Need.
Below are some amazon ingredient links for your shopping convenience.
Fine Cornmeal
EZ Peel Shrimp
salt
Vinegar
coconut Powder
Badia Complete Seasoning
Turmeric
Smoked Paprika
Cooking Oil
All-Purpose Flour
Garlic Powder
black Pepper
Yellow Onion
La Choy Sauce
Your kitchen may need one of these gadgets.
Creamy Polenta aka "Tun Cornmeal" with Pan Seared Shrimp. Bonus: Fried Polenta Cakes
Equipment
- Deep Sauce Pan
- Cast Iron Pot
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
Polenta
- 2 cups Fine Cornmeal
- 1 8 oz. Packet Coconut Milk Powder
- 1.5 tbsp. Turmeric Powder
- 1 tbsp Roasted Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Salt
- 8 cups Water (room temperature)
Pan-Seared Shrimp
- 1 lb Raw Shrimp Easy peel with tail on
- ¼ cup La Choy Sweet & Sour Sauce
- 3 tbsp White Cane Vinegar
- ¼ cup Canola or Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Badia Smoked Paprika
- 2 tsp Roasted Garlic Powder
- ½ cup Onion, finely diced.
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Salt
Seasoned Flour
- 1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
- 1 tbsp Badia Complete Seasoning
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
Instructions
Let's Make Pan-Seared Shrimp In Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Remove the shell of the shrimps, leaving only the tails on. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, black pepper, and garlic powder. Leave to marinate for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, complete seasoning, and black pepper until evenly distributed. lightly coat each shrimp with the seasoned flour mixture.
- Set aside coated shrimp. Heat oil over medium flame for 1-2 minutes.
- To the heated oil, carefully add the shrimp and sear on each side for 2-3 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove cook shrimp and set aside. Lower the flame. In the same cast iron pot, add the finely diced onions and cook for 1 minute until translucent.
- In a small bowl mix the La Choy sweet and sour sauce, vinegar with 1/2 cup water with a wooden spoon. Pour mixture onto the cooked diced onions and continue cooking for another 1 minute.
- Add the pan-seared shrimp to sauce and simmer over low to medium heat for 2 more minutes. Remove shrimp from the flame and set aside.
Let's Cook Polenta "Tun Cornmeal"
- In a bowl, add coconut powder, turmeric, salt, and garlic powder. Traditionally in Jamaica, freshly juiced coconut milk is used; It takes the flavor profile to a much higher level. For convenience, I decided to use coconut powder.
- Add the 8 cups of room temperature water and use a whisk to mix until all the ingredients dissolve.
- Pour the coconut turmeric mixture into a saucepan and bring to boil over high heat for 1-2 minutes.
- To prevent lumping of the cornmeal, some recipes call for you to mix the cornmeal with water before you add it to the hot liquid. For the purpose of this recipe, you will slowly pour the dry cornmeal into the simmering hot coconut milk mixture.
- Reduce flame to low. In small portions, add the cornmeal while constantly turning the mixture using a whisk. Continue cooking for another 8 minutes until you observe a slightly glossy sheen on the surface of the polenta.
- Remove from flame and serve on a plate topped with the delicious pan-seared shrimps.
Fried Polenta Cakes
- My favorite way to enjoy polenta is to fry them crispy golden brown. I pour the hot creamy Polenta into a container. I allow the Polenta to cool at room temperature, then store it in the refrigerator.
- Allowing the Polenta in the container to cool will produce a fairly firm cake, ready to be sliced for frying.
- The Polenta Cake can be cut into any shape and fried to a deliciously golden brown crisp on the outside while still maintaining a creamy soft texture on the inside.
- Fry slices of the polenta in heat oil until golden brown. Serve the Fried Polenta Cakes and enjoy!
Polenta aka "Turned Cornmeal"
You are also gonna love this delicious Jamaican Hominy Corn Porridge. Click HERE for link to recipe.
Pan Seared Shrimp
Thanks for dropping by. I would love to know what you think. Leave a comment and star rating.
Sounds really good — thanks for sharing!
I’ve never tried tun cornmeal, so I made have to make that based on your recipe, although I’ll be skipping the seafood portion of the recipe as I hate seafood. I’ve also never tried grits, but then I’m not an American and I’ve only ever heard of Americans making it, but I had always wondered what it was, so now I know
I haven’t heard anyone talk about tun cornmeal in years. I will definitely need to try this recipe.
I think I will try this. When people would feed it to their dog was that because it would fill up their tummy for a long time?
Cornmeal was very economical at the time. Dog food was not sold at the time, so homemade dog food with cornmeal was the norm. I am sure the dogs were very filled.
Kevin, I have to admit polenta is one of those ingredients I despise so much – but oh my god does this dish look absolutely amazing! I really need to give polenta a second chance, so I can try the super yummy shrimps to go with it.
Wow this looks absolutely delicious, I have never tried making polenta before but you make it look so easy! Thank you for sharing!
I love polenta and shrimp, so this meal would be perfect! Your recipes are super savory and seem to include a lot of southern flavors, which I love! Nice job!
Okay, this recipe looks SO good! I have never had cornmeal this way. It looks great! I will have to try making this now. Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to try it. :)
This recipe looks amazing! Thanks for explaining the difference between polenta and grits. I can’t wait to try this one day!
Very good recipe post. I am not a fan of grits, but this looks so amazing, I might just try it out.
Thanks for dropping by. I personally do not like grits. It’s very popular in the southern states. Polenta is slightly different than grits and I think you will like it.
I love the combinations of shrimp/grits and shrimp/polenta, so I can’t wait to give this recipe a try. Strangely enough, I was just considering adding something like this to our weekly menu plan!
This must be a sign.
Well, I am glad you came across my recipe. It’s a very simple dish, but very flavorful. Hope you enjoy cooking the polenta and shrimp some day,
This looks and sounds amazing.
Shrimp is one of my favorite things ever, but I have yet to master polenta. Can’t wait to try it!
WOW! This looks so amazing, Kevin! I think I’ve had a dish similar to this once when I was at a food truck festival! It didn’t even occur to me to try and make this myself one day. Thanks for sharing the step-by-step instructions! x
Lynn | https://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
I love shrimp so much. It is one of my favorite sea food. I have never tried Creamy Polenta “Tun Cornmeal” before but man, this looks fabulous. My mouth is watering and the shrimp topping is lit as hell!!
Thanks for dropping by. I am sure you will enjoy it. All the best trying my recipe. Please come back and check out my other recipes.
Polenta is really tasty. It is interesting to find out that when you were growing up that it’s considered only fit for dogs! How times change :-) Now I guess it is a trendy food. The recipe sounds delicious!
Yes indeed! Martin; times have changed. Thanks for stopping by.
This recipe looks delicious! My family is a big fan of shrimp dishes; thank you for sharing!