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Foolproof Recipe for Boiled Shrimp

Source of Recipe


"Consuming Passions: A Food Obsessed Life," by Michael Lee West



List of Ingredients



• Two 12-ounce cans of beer
  
• 3 to 6 cups cold water
  
• Kosher salt
  
• 3 lemons, quartered and slightly squeezed into the cold water
  
• 8 dashes Tabasco (or more)
  
• 1 packet shrimp boil
  
• Whole peppercorns, as desired (or use 1 teaspoon)
  
• 1 onion, quartered
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• Newspaper
  
• 2 pounds shrimp
  






Instructions



1. Pour beer and water into a large pot. Add a couple of handfuls of kosher salt; cup your hand and pour a mound in the center. Repeat three times. Shrimp require salt -- don't be cowardly. Add lemons, Tabasco, shrimp boil, peppercorns, onion, and more beer, if you've got any left over. My husband adds sugar (in addition to the salt) because he saw it on a cooking show. Mama said he'd be a fool to do it; but his shrimp are delectable. He adds a scant ¼ cup granulated sugar to a huge vat of water. (He cooks the shrimp outside, in a giant pot, on a gas burner. On this same contraption, he boils lobsters in lemon water, spiked with vodka, claiming it's the only humane method.)
   
   
2. While you wait for the water to boil, spread the newspaper over the table. Add a pile of paper napkins. Iced tea is a nice touch. When the water reaches a rolling boil, add the shrimp. Bring the water to a second boil. Cook 3 to 4 minutes. Keep an eye on the clock. Do NOT overcook. You'll be sorry if you do. The shrimp will be so tough you can use them to break windows. Some people boil small red potatoes and corn on the cob in the shrimp water -- this makes a one-pot feast.
   
   
3. Now remove the pot from the heat. Cover the pot and let the shrimp steep 3 minutes. Drain. Peel and eat. Pass cocktail sauce, sliced lemon, and saltine crackers. Purists eschew the crackers, but I myself like to build little sandwiches. First, take a saltine, add a shrimp, and drizzle with cocktail sauce. The best sauce, by the way, is homemade; it takes less than two minutes to make, but I've seen my brother make it in thirty seconds flat. Just mix 1 cup catsup, the juice of 1 lemon, a little minced garlic, a dash of Tabasco, and ½ teaspoon horseradish -- or more. You can tinker with this -- it's not a recipe, just a procedure. If you are serving potatoes and corn, pass the butter.
   
   Makes 2 to 6, depending on appetite
   
   
   This meal cries out for a screened-in porch and lots of candles. Eat barefoot and play old blues records. Use an old metal bucket for the shells. For the fussy, set out finger bowls and lots of paper towels. Key Lime Pie is a nice complement, but watermelon is traditional. Slice it open on the table, spitting the seeds onto the newspaper. When you are finished, roll up the newspaper with the shells and seeds and corncobs. Your dishes are done. Now, walk out onto the grass, stirring up the lightning bugs. Turn on the hose and wash up. Then collapse in the hammock.