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Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

Source of Recipe

From "Secrets of the Southern Table" by Virginia Willis


Recipe Introduction

"I first had this refreshing Mexican-style shrimp cocktail, known as campechana de mariscos, in Houston, Texas, at Goode Company, a family-owned restaurant group that features Texas cuisine. Of course, the restaurant makes their own pico de gallo from scratch, but I'm taking a shortcut and suggesting best-quality store-bought—you can often find it in the produce department of better grocery stores and markets. At Goode Company, they serve it with freshly made tortilla chips, and it's also wonderful served on a bed of salad greens or in lettuce cups. Often when people poach or boil shrimp, they will drain the hot, freshly cooked shrimp in a colander and then run cold running water over it to cool it down quickly and stop the cooking, essentially watering down any flavor from the shrimp boil. Don't wash away the flavor; try amping it up instead! First, make a flavorful cooking liquid; here I suggest lemon, onion, and bay leaves. You can also use your favorite spice combinations. Then quick chill some of the cooking liquid with bags of ice. Once you've drained the shrimp, plunge it into the cooled liquid to chill and stop the cooking. Kinda genius, don't you think? For better flavor and a bit more protection against overcooking, cook shrimp in the shell. I do understand that peeling small and medium shrimp can be very tedious, so if you choose to cook shelled shrimp instead, that's fine."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 lemon, halved
â—¦ ½ sweet onion, peeled
â—¦ 2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
â—¦ Coarse kosher salt
â—¦ 1 pound shell-on medium (31/40-count) shrimp
â—¦ 1 cup best-quality fresh pico de gallo or tomato salsa
â—¦ ¼ cup tomato juice or Clamato
â—¦ Juice of ½ lime
â—¦ 2 tablespoons ketchup
â—¦ 2 tablespoons chili sauce
â—¦ 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
â—¦ 1 clove garlic, very finely chopped
â—¦ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
â—¦ 2 serrano peppers, seeded and chopped
â—¦ Freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ ½ pound lump crabmeat
â—¦ 1 avocado, diced
â—¦ Tortilla chips or Little Gem lettuce leaves, for serving


Recipe

To poach the shrimp, combine 12 cups water, the lemon, onion, bay leaves, and 1 tablespoon salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and then decrease the heat to low. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes to make a flavorful court bouillon.

Have ready a frozen freezer pack sealed in a heavy-duty plastic bag or a large heavy-duty sealable plastic bag filled with ice cubes. Transfer several cups of the broth to a large heatproof bowl. Place the ice pack in the bowl of broth; move the pack around until the broth is well chilled. Drain and add more ice to the bag as needed.

Return the heat to high and bring the remaining mixture to a rolling boil. Add the shrimp and boil until the shells are pink and the meat is white, 1 to 2 minutes for shell-on shrimp and about 1 minute for peeled shrimp. Do not overcook.

Drain the shrimp in a colander or remove with a slotted spoon and then immediately transfer to the chilled cooking liquid to stop the cooking process. Set aside.

Combine the pico de gallo, tomato juice, ketchup, chili sauce, hot sauce, garlic, cilantro, and serranos in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the chilled shrimp in a colander, shaking to remove as much liquid as possible. Fold the shrimp and crabmeat into the pico de gallo mixture. Add the avocado; taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or lettuce cups.

Makes 4 cups, to serve 4 to 6