Coctel De Camerones! Mexico's delicious invention where you can eat chilled shrimp with a spoon! Seriously one of my favorite Mexican dishes and I especially love it in the heat of summer. It's like eating a chilled Gazpacho but better. There are many recipes out there that involve Clamato Juice which is fine in a pinch... but try this recipe and see what you think.
Ingredients
Shrimp Boil:
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, medium to large works well. Reserve shells.
1 lemon, quartered
1 stalk celery, cut into big chunks
1 Tblsp whole peppercorns
Kosher salt
Soup:
2 Tbsp salt, more or less
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup ketchup (yes... ketchup)
¾ cup clam juice
2 to 3 Tbsp lime juice (or to taste)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Mexican hot sauce, to taste (think Cholula)
2-4 medium tomatoes (Roma's work well)
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped (I usually do two of those bad boys, but that's me)
1 medium size cucumber, seeds removed, diced small (about 1 cup)
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 medium avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 cup chopped cilantro, loosely packed
lime wedges and cilantro springs for serving
Instructions
Devein and peel shrimp. We have a handy dandy tool for that or you can just use kitchen shears.
For your shrimp boil, add water to a three quart pot. Toss in the shrimp shells that you just peeled, the lemon, celery, peppercorns and a good hefty pinch of Kosher salt. Bring to boil over medium-high heat about 5 minutes until fragrant. Add shrimp and bring to a slow boil. Cover the pot and remove from heat and let stand 3 minutes until just cooked through. Transfer just the shrimp to an ice bath with a slotted spoon.
Combine salt, pepper, ketchup, clam juice, lime juice, Worcestershire and hot sauce and give it a good stir.
Add chilled shrimp, tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, cucumber, celery, avocado, and cilantro and combine.
Refrigerate for AT LEAST 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
Serve in large, wide-rimmed glasses with a few shrimps on top. Garnish with a lime wedge, cilantro springs and maybe a tortilla chip or two.
Makes four servings.
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