Perfect Shrimp Cocktail
What's the secret to making perfect shrimp? It's all in the brine. If you don't brine your shrimp, you are really missing out. Here's how to make high end shrimp, on par with Shrimp Cocktail that you'd find at a fine steakhouse.
I like to use U12 Shrimp (That's 12 to a pound). To me they are the perfect size when using as a main course. To do this right, your shrimp should still be in the shell, but should be cleaned and deveined. This is enough brine for two pounds of U12 shrimp
First we need to make the brine. It's really simple, here's what you need:
- 2 cups of hot tap water
- 1/2 cup of table sugar
- 1/2 cup of coarse/kosher salt
- 2 cups of ice
Put hot water into a large bowl, dissolve the sugar and salt. And by dissolve I mean the water is clear and you can't see the sugar and salt any more. If it's cloudy, keep stirring.
Once dissolved, add the ice to cool down the brine. We do this because we don't want to cook the shrimp in the brine.
Once the brine has cooled, add your shrimp. Make sure all the shrimp get submerged in the brine. Let the shrimp sit in the brine for 30 minutes, no longer.
With about 10 minutes left, turn your broiler on (500 F direct heat from top) AND put a cookie sheet or broiling tray in the oven. We want this tray to be HOT!
Once the 30 minutes are up, remove the shrimp from the brine and dump out the brine. Rinse and dry bowl.
Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl and (optionally) a liberal amount of Old Bay Seasoning. Note though that using Old Bay will give the shrimp a slightly "dirty" look.
Mix together, then add the shrimp to the bowl. Toss the shrimp around to get a good coating.
Remove the hot tray from the broiler and put the shrimp on the tray. The shrimp will sizzle as they touch the hot tray.
Broil for four minutes.
Flip shrimp over and Broil for another 3 minutes.
Looking fantastic!
Remove from oven.
Put shrimp on a plate, cover, and refrigerate until cool. Although it's perfectly acceptable to eat them hot off the tray. :)
When cool, remove the shells leaving the tail on and serve with or without cocktail sauce. They really don't need any sauce though, especially if you used the Old Bay.
Enjoy!
Note: if any of the shrimp fall apart or are mushy when removing the shells, throw them away. They are old. Find a new place to buy your shrimp.
Yummmmm. Live by the ocean; luv shrimps as some say. I like the fresh ones right off the boat in Mayport; heads on. They dump'em right in your cooler with a snow shovel. You'd be amazed a the difference in flavor if you cook them with heads on. Of course, makes it a bit of a problem to de-vein. So you don't like a nice remulade sauce??
Posted by Art on December 23, 2007 at 02:24 PM PST #
I will follow this recipe to the letter very very soon. I LOVE shrimp more than chocolate!!
Merry Christmas!
Posted by Barb on December 24, 2007 at 01:12 PM PST #
as an alternative to brine, soaking the shrimp in a water-sherry mixture prior to cooking consumption leaves them pleasantly flavored. even older shrimp.
Posted by stephen o'grady on December 26, 2007 at 01:04 PM PST #
Can you soak already frozen cooked shrimp in the brine?
I am fixing shrimp cocktail w/ sauce for a wedding reception. I thought I remember someone telling me that the shrimp needs to be soaked in something but couldn't remember what, maybe lemon or vinegar.
Your recipe sounds great and wanted to use it if it would work with the frozen shrimp (for budget reasons we are using the frozen).
Posted by Cindy on May 06, 2008 at 07:58 AM PDT #
Hi Cindy,
If they are frozen raw (they all are), that's fine. But if they are already cooked, it's too late. Sorry!
Posted by Thin Guy on May 06, 2008 at 01:25 PM PDT #
I'm sorry, but this shrimp ended up being so salty we couldn't eat them. What a waste. Shrimp aren't cheap and we don't buy them often. To top it all off....I had two other couples here for Valentines Day for this dinner. I followed the recipe to the letter.
Barb O'Brien
Posted by Barbara on February 16, 2009 at 08:45 AM PST #
Hi Barb,
Sorry to hear it didn't turn out for you. This is a simple classic brine. My best guesses as to what happened is one of the following: used table salt vs Kosher (table is salt is much "saltier"), let it soak for too long, did not cool down the brine, used much smaller shrimp than u12, the shrimp was not fresh having started to break down on it's own, or omitted the sugar. I make these shrimp for almost every social gathering and they are gone in seconds with rave reviews. I also brine lobster tails using this method and they are outstanding.
Posted by Thin Guy on February 16, 2009 at 09:59 AM PST #
Your pictures of shrimp make my mouth water. We make shrimp cocktail every now and then.
Posted by Daniel on April 30, 2009 at 08:46 AM PDT #
This sounds great! Can I make them the day before a party? I'm having a Mother's Day lunch and would like to make the shrimp Saturday, if possible.
Posted by Debbie on May 05, 2009 at 07:41 AM PDT #
Hi Debbie,
You can absolutely make them the night before. I'd probably remove their shells before you store them in an air tight container, but I've actually stored them with shells on too.
Posted by Thin Guy on May 05, 2009 at 07:55 AM PDT #
Thanks for your reply! One more question--how long will they keep in the refrigerator? A couple of days?
Posted by Debbie on May 05, 2009 at 10:44 AM PDT #
Hi Debbie,
Depends on how fresh they were to begin with. A couple of days is probably the limit though. They really are the best when made the same day and take under an hour total. The brine step is the longest, after that you're talking a couple of minutes. BTW, if you really want to knock it out of the park, use this for dipping sauce: http://blogs.sun.com/ThinGuy/entry/mojo_sauce
Posted by Thin Guy on May 05, 2009 at 12:21 PM PDT #
can they be boiled instead of broiled
Posted by gigi on May 21, 2009 at 09:41 AM PDT #
Hi Gigi,
Probably, but I've never done that. You can also through them on the grill. Regardless of the cooking method, it's the brine that does the job of keeping the shrimp plump and juicy. If boiling I'd add some extra Old Bay right to the boiling water and be sure not to over cook.
Posted by Thin Guy on May 21, 2009 at 10:54 AM PDT #
This is AMAZING!!! I made shrimp cocktail tonight, followed this recipe to a tee, and WOW!ed my hubby and my 6 & 4 year olds! They were literally oohing and ahhing the shrimp! And let me tell you!... my 6 year old is one picky eater! She couldn't get enough of these shrimp! This will definitely go in my recipe box and will be a staple in our home for many years to come! Thanks so much for sharing it with us and for doing such a great job explaining every step for us! It really helped that you made it clear to FULLY dissolve the salt and sugar in the water and to keep stirring if it's cloudy! If you hadn't made it a point to mention that, I probably would have stopped stirring a lot sooner! Instead, I just kept stirring a little longer and it became clear! Also, thanks for the pics next to the different steps! Totally helped me!! :) U ROCK!!!
Posted by Libby on July 12, 2009 at 11:05 PM PDT #
Hi Libby,
Your comment just made my Monday! Thanks!
Posted by Thin Guy on July 13, 2009 at 06:09 AM PDT #
which country/region offers the best quality U12...
what choices do we have for shrimp in the nyc metro area? market, not mail order
Posted by reed on September 08, 2009 at 12:47 PM PDT #
Used tony chachere creole seasoning and they turned out great even with a little kick to them! Thank you!
Posted by Fireman on October 28, 2009 at 11:33 AM PDT #
I want to try this. I have already bought 5 lbs shrimp that are shelled and deveined, then frozen. Do you think not having shells will be a problem?
Posted by David G on November 22, 2009 at 03:14 PM PST #
I used this recipe with 3 variations. First, the shrimp were deveined and shelled with the tails on, U12 size. You can make the brine solution exactly per the instructions, except I used the nearly frozen shrimp to cool off the hot brine. For the second part, I used the olive oil alone for 1/3 of them, oil and old bay for a third and with the oil, I whisked in a small amount of grenadine syrup in the oil before tossing and broiling. All 4.5 pounds were devoured in short order. Thanks for posting it. I'm a convert from the boiled version forever.
Posted by David G on December 01, 2009 at 07:02 PM PST #
Hi David,
Glad it worked out for you. If you ever see those smaller rock lobster tails on sale, buy some do the same exact thing. Will be the best lobster you've ever had. :)
Posted by Thin Guy on December 01, 2009 at 07:13 PM PST #